4 



" The usefulness of * Ttie Olive Braacb,' Is not wholly, or even principslly 
confioed to one or two readiugs- A.s a book ol reitrence, it is almost t bov.. Value 
Men who are engaged coiniuuaily in the avocations by which they and theii fa- 
mi lies subsist, cannot be expected to commit to memory even the most important 
parts oi" the many interesting documents which relate to our intercourse with fo- 
reiJQ nations , nor do they often collect and preserve these documents to recur 
to waen a diffeience of opinion arises. The Olive Branch is c^.lculated to supply 
both these defects. Here the most important state papers, on the most disputed 
subjects, are throvvn together and explained and illustrated with intciligenee and 
cundor -Vhen any dispute occurs, one has only to take up this work, tarn to 
the index, and open to wiiatever topic he desires to bfe informed of. The docu- 
ments are authentic; and the party who is mistaken, will, it iii^ mind is cp* n to 
conviclion, be convinced of his error, and, if he is an honesl man he will ac- 
kno'-viedge and abaudon it. 

vVheii the fir-t edition of thi.s work appeared, notwithstanding some errors 
and omissions, 1 considered it the best political tract which had been puh.i- icd 
for many years VViien the second edi'ion issued from the press, i purcnased 
that , and found it amended in some, and inucu improved in oth<?r particulars, — 
T^ie third t-dition. which was, 1 understand, printr-d in Boston. 1 did not see. 
Bni l ie fourth edition, whicti was extended to t'^o volume?, wiiich enlarged on 
several topic> 'reated on in the former editions, and t^mbraced .-c veral iirspo't ^nt 
subjects not touched on in them, was so highly sat sfactory to me, that I pre.-^[it- 
ed tiie copies I had to som*^ of my neighbors, who had not the ability to purcri ise 
for Liicmseives, and procured tins for myself. Its utility to me his bet-n v»-ry 
gr- it It has re niuded me of many things I had forgaH^en. and acquaiiitcd me 
With many others I was ignorant of. 1 think the same beneficial effects m\iz> be 
€xpfrienced by every man wiiO reads it, with a desire t» have hi-^ memory re- 
freshed, and nis mind enlightened. If our government is worth maintainiug and 
the iuteiiigence of the people is one of its safe-guards, tho^e wiio employ t'leir 
tim^* and talents in diifu«!mg that intelligence in tlie most correct and accepiabie 
manner and form, are reaiiy f^dtitled tn the gratitude of every friend of the gO" 
vernmeut."— Trenton True American, May 22, 1815. 

'* The Olive Branch is a serious appeal to the two great parties which divide 
our coun ry, on the necessity of mutual forgivene.«s and iiarmony. Tn pur-eiag 





rious kinds — from nati^'nal and state archives — whether as a repojitoi-y of au- 
thentic facts and references— as an historical sketch of the rise and progress of 

"oarty spirit from the consummation of our independence to t:ie present day as 

memorial which ought never to be forgotten of the pernicious effects of *hat 
t. when carried beyond the bounds of reason and justice :-in short, wneth- 
view the OUve Branch as a political appeal to the good sense of the nation, 
-^cord of historical events, with which every American ought to be ac- 
- we consider it a work of the highest value, the circulation of which 
• n his country is bound to promote. 

rppuhlican alone, who will derive satisfaction from tiie perusal 
^ \ : '^he federalist will find in it many*egregious faults pointed out, 

"^'•^ ^' ^nniitted by the republican party, boih in the national and 

-^s; ot'ierw3.=# the work would not be con<iit--nt vrith its titV 
ZTlV ^fi^^CH: OR. FAULTS BOTH SIDES, FEdZ 

V' ^ TIC-A SSRiOUS APPEAL OX TRE iSECE-SI^ 

Ol' \iL :VENESS VND H vRMONY -And it mu.^ be 

- 5f tha. -orrect tne faults of both ide?. i^ to indu.-^ bo^h, 

tJ''.'^-''^ heir own feults. as well hs to those of their op' 

poients This jaa ^rk Mr. Carey has the credit of Utemntmo- Wheth- 

fL J^^'T^ "^'^^'^ J ^^^e or not, time must determi^i- ' At^^ll events, 

wouid know the whole ivn.h.'^^Albany RegUer, June 13 im. 

A 



In the warmth and violenee of a political contest, it rarely happens tliat ci- 
ther prtrt> is entirely faultless. Imperlectiou, m a greater or lets degree, is 
stamped on every thing numao : and the individual, much more the pairy, who 
should claim an entire exemption trom it, would betray tiie gio;>sest /guoi aiice.— 
In times of turbulence, however, few are suflicientjy elevated above the ii:fiuence 
of party passion, to expose error, wherever found. The faults of a favorite p.ir- 
ty are too commonly passed over in silence, and ttiose of the opposite, ulirea^0Ii- 
iibly magnified. 

" The author of the Olive Branch has taken a stand beyond the reach of party 
lufiuence The grovelling notions of the bar-room politiciai; constitute no part 
of his political system. When, in his opinion, tlie republican adnftnisiratioDs or 
the republican party have deserved censure, he nas freeiy bestowed it His 
work carries on its face the eicst convincing prooi, not merely of strength ol ge- 
aius, and depth of research, but the most sterii political integrity." — MiddUbury 
Fatriot, May, 1815. 



*' There is perhaps no book extant, thai in so small a compass contains so great 
-a quantity ct mon.tntou!' poiilicai tiurh, Like ti-etwotdged ^^wold, saio to 
have been wielded by the angel of light agaill^t Satan and his :-tnge s," it dis- 
pels and puts to hight an army of ermr and falsehood." — IVteMy Regislery vol. 
vii. page 371. 

" The Olive Brancii, or faults^n bui . sides, federal and democratic, is no par- 
ty pubjicalion : it contains a iucid exan. .nation of the fau'ts of both p; rtits. i.d 
calis Icudh for union in defence of our territory and the dearest int' rests of all. 
"W e have never seen a publication in Um Cfiuntry thr.t so ju^^liy a.ejiled Vne pat- 
ronage of all. Federa.ists and ^epuhlican^ wiii both i^ee their iau.ts ciei^rly 
poin ed out and commented on. ^Ve admire the independent spirit of the publi- 
cation. Althouch we do not subscribe to all liie tenet?, object? an (3 rtccn men- 
dations crntained in ti^e Olive Branch, yet we think huch a publicstion paiticu- 
larly valuable, as it coniprises in a succinct view a well arranged Uios^s oi f ublic 
nnd political documents ob the subjects which led to the war, pariicuiarly that 
' of imi'J'esbmeDt, the ordeis in council, correspondence oi Mr Erskii.e and iVir. 
Soiirfe, previous to the war, and important correspondence bt lweer. our } i.f iic 
functionsries and those of the enemy since the whi. Every man j-hould pcssess 
this book, and read it carefully through without prejudice - Bosiu7i PatHoi. 

Before I proceed further, however, 1 must do justice to a writer so obviovsly 
di=5inierested.*indepei^dent and patriotic, as the author of the Olive Eranci-, by 
'^3vin<^ that he has done ample justice to the character of Mr. Jeffer.'^on, in ca>t- 
inc' back: upon his assailants^he foul charges of * French ii fiuence and er.n ,t} to 
trade'— this he does in a manner that must bring conviction home to every bo- 
som that po-sesses a single drop of the mi k of human kindness ; and let me pdd, 
thai the justice thus dene to that great and gcod man, will nut be the less useful 
in cf m'in^ forth in a volume v^hiQli censures. itWicui/ear^ and praist^^^^ adu- 
^zh'&rt."— Aurora. 

Fxirad of a Utter from Janes Madison, esq. president (f ike U Sides. 

*' Wa.^bington, Jan. 1815. 

" 1 have not be^^n able as -yet to do.more than glance at the plan o' the work, 
aBd run. over a few of its pages. The course adoptfd <)f ass^^-^^ ^T 'T^ 
nnd striking facts, and addressing them impartially and iDdeper.<ient^y, but T»im 
becom nafm to the attcn?ion of the public, was be.t .Itted to render .t . 

vllu ble^Hi^d seasonable-ervice.; and it appears that the .-uccess^oi your laba^ 
jviii well reward the laudable views >^ith - hich it was undertaken 

E^iraei of a letter from Ihomas Jeffa^on, esq. ^^'^^ Fet^ ^1^1 

1 thank vcu for the copT of the Olive Branch you have been sc. kin ' as to 
Qerd me N^any extract? from it wb ch i had ^^een in the newspaper^, h.o e a 
a wth to procure it A cursory vhw over the work has confirmed ti)e opa^.a 
c xcited b> the extracts, that it will do great good.*' 



OLIVE BRANCH : 

OR, 

FAULTS ON BOTH SIDES, 

FEDERAL AND DEMOCRATIC. 
A SERIOUS APPEAL ON THE NECESSITY 

OF 

MUTUAL FORGIVENESS AND HARMONY. 

BY INI/CAKEY. 
« • 

SEVENTH EDITION, ENLARGED, 



*^ Faction is the madne?sof the many for the benefit of the few.'^^ 
" Fi-enzieii be the head....palsied be the haad....that attempts to destroy 
the union." Gen. Eaton, 

" Truths would you teaeh... or save a sinking land : , \3 

All fear....none aid you. ...and few understand." Pope, 

^' Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to DESOLATION.-^ 

3Iatt. xii. 25. 

In dissensione nulla salus com-piciturP Caesar. 

"If we pay a proper regard to truth, we shall find it necessary not- 
only to condemn our friends upon some occasions, and commend our eu" 
eraies, but also to commend and condemn the same persons, as different 
circumstances may require : for as it is not to be imagined, that those 
who are engaged in great affairs, should always be pursuing false or mis- 
taken measures, so neither is it probable that their conduct can at aU 
times be exempt from error." Polybius, 

** Neither the law of Christianity nor cf Reason requires m to pros* 
irate our national independence^ freedom^ property and honor at the feet of 
proud, tyrannical oppressors,^^ Address of Rev. Br. David Osgood, 
xMay, 179 8. ■ 

Watch those ungrateful souls who murmur about taxation and op- 
pression — the burdens of government and religion. They have felloivship 
w.lh our enemies. They are traitors to God and Christianity." Address 
by ike Rev. Dr. Elijah Parish, July 4, 1T99. 

As citizens, ice ought iciih one heart- to cleave to and support our own 
government. It is a government of our own forming, and administered b(j 
^icn of our own choice Sermon by Kev. Jedidlah Morse, May 9, 179o-- 



MIDDLEBURY, ^'t. 

SRINTBD AJTD PUBLISHED BY WILLI A.M SLiiDE, JIT-S"- 

January^ 1816. 




hxir act from gov. Strong'*^ speech, ink Jan. 1806. 
, ** Changes in the con^ututlan of governnierit are more injurious than Id 
the :rf intern oi laws : even a small innovation may destroy its prindples. Ttic fra- 
nitr:>of the ccn&liLUtion had before thein not only the torms which had been pre- 
fti i ed by the several states, but those also \vhich before that time had been de- 
vised in otiiei ages and nations. ,\iid though the lepewted experiments widch 
hdve since taken place in Europe, may suggest matter for warning, they afford 
ROtbiog for ioiitation. if, notwithstanding, it is found by experience, tiiat the 
constitution operates very unequally, or the con-truction of apy part is doubtful, 
amendnient? may be necessary lo alter or explain it. But it is in vain to expect 
thai all will he saiisfled.^ Free governments admit of an endless variety of modi- 
fications : and the opinions entertained -A their respective merits are equally vb- 
TtOUi, Wiien the consttution ?i^as established, perhaps no man that became' lub- 
ject to it was perfectly pleased with every part. It 7vas the result of mutual con- 
cemon—^nd such indeed must always be the case when a form of government is 
voluntarily accepted by a community 

ITr' ^V' T^^nds some men there seems to be a resilessnest which renders 
themdiiisatisfud rvUh any uniform course of things, and makes them eager in the 
pursuit of nov illy ^tt, . , . . . , ... 

cfdl change 
Jul. B 

the fairest prttences to principles, though they are actuaitd only \y ^tlf -inter est.— 
If the CGnsiitution or laws if their Ojardry pre-xrit obslacles to the accompluhmeni 
ff their nishts, they employ every ori fice to alter or abdish them ^ and if indivi- 
duals oppose their ctliempts, they are equally crfful and solicitous to destroy their in - 
fcuence and render them odtGUs to their feliorc- citizens. 

[C?' ^"^^ mQu, even in a prosperous community, are fully satisfied with heir 
conditionr. A great part are easily induced to believe, that there is tjomething 
wrong fii the gove.^-nment or laws, wJiich might be recii.'ied to their advantage. — 
They therefore readily embrace any specious proposal to effect an alteration. 
The ci'afty and ambitious know how to avail themselves of this di.=tposition to change ^ 
and en^courage their follorjers to expect titat the amendments they propose n ill per- 
fecUy iuit their case, and produce the very blessings they wish : in this way they not 
only effect their immediate object, but acquire an influence which enables them 
afterwards to accomplish the most disastrous innovations. Such persons encour- 
age hopes that can never be realised, and excite complaints which the most wise 
and benevolent administration is unable to remove. 

Our form? of government are doubtless like all other human institutions, im- 
perfect j but they will insure the blessings of freedom to the citizens, and 
preserve their tranquility as long as they are virtuous ; and no constitution that 
Jhas be<?n or can be formed will secure those blessings to a depraved and vicious 
people." 

Extract from the answer of Vie, Massachusetts sensLte to the governor's speech of 

Mfh Jan 1806. 

*' tt^ ^^'^ ^'^^^^ ^^^^ ^'^^^^ ^ ^^^^^ more cautious eye upon every innovation at- 
tempted to be made upon our national constitution. Tlie integrity, experience, 
and extensive information discovered by tl e illustrious characters who framed 
that valuable instrument and the series of public prosperity enjoyed under it, in- 
title it to our highest veneration , its excellence appears with sull greater lu?*tre, 
when compared with the ephemeral constitutions of many nations which bave 
flitted across the the eye in rapid succession, and then sunk into total oblivion. — 
We are not insensible that our form of government must be imperrect, as was the 
nature of its autliors : but we recollect, at the same time, tlr t (j;^ any proposed 
alteration under the name of amendmmtis liable to the same imperfection 

" Believing therefore that Q;J= the principles of the constitution are as well ad-- 
justed as human mfirmiiy will ^jermii, and that a small innovation may essentially 
pervert its m'iginal tendency, we shi.-ll exert ourselves to preserve it in its present 
form except in cases .where its operation shall be found extremely uneq^ral and 
oppressive.'' 



THIS B001C, 
(A3 A xMARK OF GRATITUDE FOR 
INESTIMABLE BLESSINGS ENJOYED, IN 
I^BERTY OF PERSON, LIBERTY OF PROPERTY, AND LIBERT? 

OF OPINIONS, 
70 A DEGREE NEVER EXCEEDED IN THE WORLD,') 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 

70 A BELOVED BUT BLEEDING COUNTRY, 
TORN IN PIECEB 

FACTIOUS, DESPERATE, CONVULSIVE, AND RUINO¥S 
STRUGGLES FOR POWER. 

JT IS LIKEWISE DEDICATED TO THOSE 

MILLIONS OF HUMAN BEIPCGS, 
WHO NEiniER HOLD NOR SEEK OFFICE, 
WHO ARE MADE THE L^STRUMENTS OF THOSE"- 
WHO DO SEEK THEM: 
AND WHO, WHI1.E A FOREIGN ENEMY PRESSES 
AT THEIR DOORS. 
ARE ENFEEBLED AND KEPT FROM UNION, 
TO GRATIFY THE AMBITION OF 
A FEW MEN, 

(rrOT ONE IN FIVE THOUS AND OF THE WH(5LE COMMUNin*) 

WHO HAVE BROUGHT 
TO THE VERY VERGE OF DESTRUCTION, 
THE FAIREST PROSPECT 
THAT EVER SHONE ON ANY NATION. 

BY THE AUTMOm- 



GO, OLIVE BRANCH, 

INTO A COMMUNITY, WHICH DRUGGED INTO 
A DEATH-LIKE STUPOR, ^ 
WITH UNPARALLELED APATHY BEHOLDS 

THE 

PILLARS OF THE GOVERNMENT TEARING AWAY-- 
PROPERTY SINKING IN VALUE— 
THE COUNTRY 
PROSTRATE AT THE FEET OF A RUTHLESS FOE, 
ANARCHY RAPIDLY APPROACHING, 
A NUMBER OF AMBITIOUS LEADERS, REGARDLESS 

OF THE 

COaMMON DANGER, 
STRUGGLING TO SEIZE UPON THE GOVERNiMENT, 

AND 

APPARENTLY DETERMINED THE COUNTRY SHALL GO TO 

PERDITION, 

UNLESS THEY CAN POSSESS THEMSELVES OF POWER ^ 
AND, VriTH THIS VIEW, OPPOSING AND DEFEATING 
EVERY MEASURE, 
CALCULATED TO INSURE OUR SALVATION. 



APPEAL TO THE PATRIOTISM, 
THE HONOUR, THE FEELING, THE SELF-INTEREST OF YOUE 

READERS, 

TO SAVE A NOBLE NATION FROM RUIN, 
Fhikda, Jan. 4, 1815. 



PREFACE. 



TO THE FIRST EDITION, 

Philadelphia^ Nov. S, 1814/* 

I SUBMIT this work to my fellow-citizens with an uncommon degree of solicitude 
and an^ety. The subject it embraces, and the objects it has in view, are of inex- 
pressible magnitude. The subject is the present critical situation of the United 
States, with tae causes that have led to that situation ; the objects, the restoration 
of harmony, and dissipation of party rage and rancor. 

It cannot be any longer doubted that there exists a conspiracy in New-England, 
among a few of the most wealthy and influential citizens, to effect a dissolution of 
the union at every hazard, and to form a separate confederacy. This has been 
assserted by some of our citizens for years, and strenuously denied by others, de- 
ceived by the mask the conspirators wore, and their hollow professions. But it 
requires more than Baeotian stupidity and duiness to hesitate on the subject after 
the late extraordinary movements, which cannot possibly have any other object. 

It is eighteen years since this dangerous project was promulgated f From that 
period to the present, it has not been one hour out of view. And unholy and 
pernicious as was the end, the means employed were at least equally unholy and 
perfiicious. Falsehood, deception, and calumny, in turn, have been called in to 
aid the design. The pa^^sions of the people have been kept in a constant state of 
the most extravagant excitement. Every act of the government has been placed 
in ttie most revolting point of view. And to the administration have been unceas- 
ingly ascribed the most odious objects, pursued by the most detestable means 

About two-thirds of the papers ]>ublishpd in New-England are opposed to the 
pre-ent administration. They are all ex-parte. I think it is doubtful whether a 
single number of the Centinel, Repertory , Boston Gazette, &c. has been published 
for years, free from attacks on the administration. And I am pretty well con- 
vinced, that attempts at vijidication are hardly ever allowed a place. The ob- 
ject steadily, and invariably, and industriously pursued, is to run down the in- 
cumbents in office at all events. To this every thing is made subservient. 

On the injustice, the cruelty of this procedure, it is needlees to descant. It is 
treating the highest public functionaries of the country, chosen by the unbiassed 
suffrages of a free people, worse than we should treat the veriest rascal in society. 
If he were accused of any crime whatever, his defence would be patiently heard 
before sentence would be pronounced. But our first magistrate, and other public 
officers, are accused, tried, and condemned, without a possibility of defence. 

This is a great and deplorable evil — an evil so inveterate, as to render a reme- 
dy almost hopeless It is hardly possible for any government to stand against 
such an unjust system. It is pregnant with the most awful consequences to socie- 
ty. 

I am not to be told, that there are m^^ny newspapers devoted to the defence of 
the government as well as to run it down This I well know : but this does not 
remove the difficulty. ^ Such is the folly and madness of the times, that the mass 
of our citizens conSne themselves to those papers calculated to strengthen their 
prejudices. They rarely read defences, if any appear. 

* The reader is requested, in reading the different Prefaces, to pay particular 
attention to their dates. 

t In a series of essays, published under the signature of Pelham, io the Con- 
necticut Courant, 1796. See page 271. 



■8 PREF iCE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



And tbus it is not surprising tliat those prejudices become daily more and more 
invet. ( t?^ — and that through the address and industry of artful men. some of our 
citizen^ are pr» pared to overturn thr.t constitution, to whose abuse and perversion 
the} a'?cTib: ali those sufferings which have really flowed from the rapacity and 
injustice of the Helligerent'S 

Beftide.i th<- party in New-England, who are determined on a separation of the 
states ,M r i heir own ag;gr?u]diz^meQt — there is a party in ihe middle states equally 
dangeious Tiiey are daily ei gaged in preparing the public aiiud 'or seizing the 
reins of government by violence, and expelling the pubMc functionaries. 

With these gentlf mens* It is a favorite idea to send the president to Elba, and 
supply his place with one of their own frietid??, and thus save the people the ne- 
cessity of another election, Mr. Barent (jlardenier, of New-York, and a few vio- 
lent men in con2;regs, are the nrost active of this party. All their talentstfind in- 
dustry are devoted to this vile purpose. 

Blood and murder — lanterns and guillotines apart. This is as revolutionary, 
as disorganizing, as jacobinicol a project as any of those of Danton, Legendre, 
Marat. Petion, or Robespierre in the early stages of the French revolution. 
And, reader, *' lay not the flattering unction to your soul,'''' that we shall in this 
event escape bloodshed. It is as impossible that such a flagitious project should be 
carried into operation, without torrents of blood being shed, as that you can tear 
away the foundations on wiiich a mighty edifice rests, without the edifice itself 
crunabling to ruins ; or that you can remove the dykes which oppose the progress 
of a vest body of water, and not have the adjacent country ovei-flowed 

With Mr Gardenier, it is a favorite phrase, that '* ike present administration 
must come down " This is quit^ explicit, It is impossible to mistake the inten- 
tion or the mode of efFectinf it. The latter is very 8imp!e. His^tory furnishes 
numerous exaunpl<^^\ It is the mode by which rromwel! expelled th - Rump par- 
liament, and seised the reins of government himself. It is the mode by which, 
after the Rubicon was passed, Julius' Cse^Etr rose to power on the ruins of the 
Gom.monwealth And, to come to a later period, it is the^mode whereby Bona- 
parte made himself master of the destinies of France. 

But Mr Gardenier we are not ripe for this project yet. Can you, or general 
Wh>»: tot} who has civen the toast— " James Madison, on the Island of Elba" — 
ca!)}Ta I sgy. be mad enough to believe that the hardy yeomanry of New York,. 
]SV%v Jersey, or Pennsylvania, will submit to allow any band of desperadoes- with 
impuni^v to tear the highest public functionories of the nation from their seats — 
me chosen in strict conformity with the terms of the social compact 1' 

If you flatter yourse^f with any such pleasing delusions, gwake, and shake 
the mighty error Rely upon it, that those who may make the sacriligif-us at- 
tempt, will, with their deluded foil wers, suffer condign punishment as traitors. 

The United States have for a considerable time past exhibited a spectacle of the^ 
musi extraordinary kind. a:id almost unique in the history of the world. 

Our form of government Ims probably but one material defect. It wants a due 
• degree of energy, particularly p^^nding war. If it were free from this, it might 
last as long; a< the Ronaf) t^ovprnment, 

Tills def-ct mn-r be a subject of d&ep and serious regret to all good men, not 
merelv rur cotemporaries o' countrymen, but to those in future times and distant 
couniries, vho may feel an interest in the happiness of their fellow men. In pe- 
rusing history, w^^ lament the errors of our ancestors — ours will be a subject of 
lamentation to onr posteritv. 

Taking into consideration this serious defect in the frame of our government, it 
is th ' duty of all goo^ citizens to up'^okl and support it But all consi derations 
of duty apart, me e se'Pshne^s ought to pvomnt all men who have an> inte:"est in 
t&e welfare of the country, v7 ho have any tiling to lose by convulsions, and tumults, 
and confusion, and atia^-cliay, to cling: to and uphold the government, wiirreby 
they are protected in t!je enjoya^^nt of all the hie* ino? of 

But it is awful to r^^late, that a large proportion of the vealthuest men in the 
community bav..' hren sedu' ou^ly employed in tej^ring; do^vn the pillarr of 
the governraen* — ^^in throwing evt^'v obstacle, and diilicaltv, a id embarrasment 
2 the way of its administrators, as if it were equally oppressive with that of Al- 



9 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



glers or Turkey, or as if they could derive advantages from anarchy. Should 
they be cursed with tirial success in'tiieir eodeavors, they and their posterity vviU 
mourn the consequences 

Tiie national vessel is on rocks and quicksFtnds, and in danger ofsh pwreck. 
There is, moreover, a larger and more iormidabie vessel preparing all possible 
means for her destruction. Yet, instead of efforts to extricate iiej", tiie crew are 
disir icted by a dispute iiow she came into that situation. The grand and only 
object with a part of them is to seize the hlein— and ather than not succeed, 
tiiey are resolved sbe shall go to perdition. This party swears all our difficulty 
and danger are owing to the imbecility, the corruption, the madness, the lOily 
Oi the pilot, whom tney threaten with " a halttr," or to put mm ashore • oo 
the sland of Elba," The others swear with equal vehemence, tnat the refrac- 
tory, turbulent, and factious spirst of the mutinous pait oftbe crew has run the 
vessel agrouud i hey are accordingly d itermined to defend the pilot. A few 
individuals, who see that both parties h-ad contributed to produce tiiis calami- 
tous event, in vain hold out ' /Ae iyra?ic/i," and implore them to suspend 
all enquiries as to the cause of the danger till the ship is righted it is in vain. 
While the parties are more and more inflamed against each other, the vessel 
bulges on a sharp rock — down she goes — pilot — and supporters — and mutineers—- 
and peace makers — all in one common destruction. 

Tiiu i am fearful will be ou]- fate. But it may be prevented. All that is ne- 
cessary is for a few infiueutial men in the differen states to unite — bury the hatch- 
et — md lay a^ide all miiio.'' considerations while the vessel of state is in danger. 
This policy is S9 obviously j'jst, that one hundred individuals throughout the 
unioa setting the example, would have suificient efficacy to accomplish the blessed 
object of saving their country. 

Will tiie ClarksoQs, tlie Rays, the Ludlows, the Remsens, the Ogdens, the 
Ptarsalls, the Lenoxes, the Harrisons, the Lawrences, the M'Cormicks, of New- 
York — the Willings, the Francises, the IVorrises, the Biddl-s, the Latimers, the 
Tlighmans, the Wains, the Ralstons, the Lewises, of Philadelphia — the Gilmors, 
the Olivers, the Sterets, the Howards, the Smiths, the Bryces, the Grahams," the 
Cookes, of Baltimore— and other such estimable federalists tiiroughout the unioQ, 
continue to regard with apatby the dangers of their country, and not make a bold 
and decisive stand to rescue tier P No. It cannot be. Heaven has not, 1 hope, so 
far blotted us out of its favourable remembrance, as to abandon as to such a fright- 
ful destiny. It will at this late hour interpose for cur salvation and dispel the 
liorrible mists of passion and prejudice — of madness and folly — whicii intercept 
from our view the abyss that yawni before us, ready to swallow us up in remediless 
destruction. 

In England, the opposition to the ministry is always violent, and, like the op" 
position here, is too generally directed against all the measures of governmentf 
whether meritorious or otherwise. But there is in parliament a substantial coun- 
try party, which occasionally votes with the minister, and occasionally with the 
opposition — supporting or opposing measures as conscience dictates. 

It is a most unfortunate fac% that in congress the number of members of this de- 
scription is very small That body may be generally classed into federalists and 
democrats, who too frequently vote in solid columns. There are, I grant, lauda- 
ble exceptions. But they are too rare. 

This is one of the worst features in the situation of the country. The indiscri- 
minate adherence to party, and uniform support of party arrangements, encouragt 
the h iders to proceed to extremities, and to adopt violent and pernicious measures, 
which the good sense of their followers may reprobate, but from which they have 
not fortitude enough io roithhold their support This has been m all countries the 
most fri^;at!ui of the consequences of the unholy and deleterious spirit of faction/ 
Mari, originally of the purest hearts and best intentions, are by this ignis faiuus, 
gradually corrupted, and led stpp by step to unite in acts at which they would, at 
the coimnencement of their career, have recoiled ?viih horror and affright. I be- 
lieve i t IS a •*ound political maxim, that a thoroughgoing party-man never was a 
perfectly h meM politician ; for there perhaps never yet was a party fi-ee from er- 
rors and crimes, more or less gross, in exact proportion to the folly or the wicked- 
ness of its leaders. 



10 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



The Jews when bes;eged by Titus, within the walls of their metropolis, availed 
themselves of the cessation of hostile attacks on the part of their external enemies, 
to glut their vengeance, and malice, and factiouj spirit, by butchering each other 
— -and thus both parties fell an easy prey to the invaders. To this deplorable 
^itch of m3.dQe5s we have not yet arHved But that we have hitherto escaped 
this calamity, is not for want of industry on the part of some persons who are un- 
ceasingly employed as incendiaries in blowing up the flame?: of discord, and prepa- 
ring us for similar scenes. The cool, and cairn, and temperate part of the commu- 
nity appear torpid and languid , and take no steps to avert the awful catastrophe, 
jjet them awake from their ?Iumbers soon ; or at no distant day, the evil may be 
remediless, and they will in vain mourn over their folly. 

I believe Mr. Madi?on perfectly upright , that his administration of the gov- 
ernment has been conducted with as pure intentions, as evcractuatfd a firht ma- 
gistrate of any country ; and that lord Chatham or the gre^t Sully would have 
found it a very arduous task to manage the helm under the difiBcuIties, external 
fiod internal, that he has to contend with. But were it a question that related 
wholly to Mr. Madison or his admiaistratiou, I should never have trespaf^sed on 
the public.-— Were Mr. Madison as patriotic as Curtius. or the Decii, who grace 
the Roman story—aad as immaculate as an archangel — nay. were all the liejoes 
and statesmen of the revolution restored to life, and entrusted witli the adminis- 
tration — 1 should consider their honour, their interests, their happiness, or their 
safety, as dast in the balance compared with the salvation of eight millions cf 
people. 

It is difficult to conceive an object more worthy of the efforts of an ardent mind. 
A review of history will convince any reasonable or candid person, that there 
probably never was, and indubitably there is cot at present a more interesting 
portion of the human species, than the inliabitants of the United State-s There 
never was a nation in^hich ail the solid blessings and comforts of life were more 
ful»y enjoyed than they are here, and where they were secuied by such slender 
sacrifices. I am not so blind an admirer, as not to see that it ha? defects There 
never was a nation or individual free from them But take all the leading points 
that give assurance of happiness, and afford the necessary indications of respecta- 
bility : and at no period can there be found a nation standing on more elevated 
ground. 

The former points of difference between the federalists and democrats have lost 
nearly ail their importance. They are merged in objects of incorcparabiy higher 
moment. Evils of incalculable magniUide menace us. A powerful enemy, fiush- 
ed with success, and with superabundant means of annoyance, hovers on our 
coasts, and, through his formidable navy, is enabled to inflict on us deep bvA las- 
ting injury. And what is pregnant with more terror by far, instead of aiding to 
extricate us from this perilous situation, the opportunity ©f a season of difficulty 
and danger is seized on to dissolve the union, to raise up hostile and jarring con- 
federacies, and to destroy the hopes mankind have formed of our coble govern- 
mental experiment. 

To continue to dispute about the minor points that divided the parties hereto- 
fore would be madness. How superlative 'vould be the folly and absurdity of 
two men, who were fighting about the interior decorations and arrange m en f-;^ oi 
an edifice, regardless of the operations ot two others, one of whom was undermi- 
ning and preparing to blow it up in the air, and the other providing a torch to set 
it on tire ? A strait jacket would be too slender a restraint for them. Such is 
the folly and madness of those democrats and federalists who continue their war- 
fare about tiie mode of admioi sterif:g the constitution, or the persons by whom it 
ghail be administered, at a time when the constitution itself is in danger of beitg 
destroyed root and branch. 

The plan of this work may require some short explanation. I believe 
the country to be in imminent danger of a convulsion, whereof the hun an 
mind cannot calculate the consequences. The nation is divided into 
two hojstlle pacties, whose aaiiaosity towards each other is daily increas- 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



by mflaviimaiory publications. Each charges the other with the guilt 
of naviug produced the present alarming state of affait g. In private life. 
wheM two individuals quarrel, a^id each believes the other wholly in the 
wrori^, a roconciliatioii is hardly practicable, iiut when they can be 
convincca that the errors are mutual — a.< ib almost universally the case — 
they open their ears to the voice of reas ^n. and are willing to meet each 
othfi lialf way. A. maxi:n sound in private affairs;, is rarely unsound in 
pubiic life. While a violent federalist beiieve# that all the evils of the 
present state of things have arisen from the guiit of the administration, 
noth^nii; less will saiissy iii n than huriing vIp. Madi^^^n from the seat of 
govermnent, and sendi.jg hi « to 8 ba. While on the other hand, a vio- 
lent democrat persua<leh nimse if that ail our eviis faave arisen from the 
di'ifinulti^^s and embarrassments consia .liy and steadily thrown in the 
way of the admini -tration by the federalists, he is utterly a rerse to any 
CO npromise. — Each looks down upon the other with f-corn and hatred as 
the pharisee in the gospel, upon the publican. I have endeavored to 
pr )ve, and I be'ieve I have fully proveil, tliat each ; arty has a heavy 
de' t of error, and folly a'ld guilt., to answer for to their injured country, 
and to pohter ty — ai d. as I have stated in the bod} o» this work, that 
raat'.al forgiveness in no more than an act of justice — andean lay no 
claim to the character of liberality on ei .her nde. 

But even suf* poking fur a moment — what probably hardly ever occur- 
red «ince the world was fo^iUied — that the error was all on one side, is it 
less iuj^ane for the other to increase the difficulty of extrication— to re- 
fuse its aid— to embanass those who have the management of our affaiis ? 
My house is on fire. Instead of calling for aid-— or providing fire en- 
gines— or endeavoring t<» smother the flames — 1 institute an inquiry how 
it ook fire — whether by accident or design — and if by design, who was 
the incendiary, and further UTidertake to punish him for his wickedness! 
a most wise and W(»nderful procedure— -and just on a level with the w s- 
dom, and patriotism, and the pubiic spirit of ihose sapient members of 
congress^ who spend days in making long speeches up<:n the causes of the 
war, and the errors of its management —every idea whereof has been a 
hundred, perhaps a thousand, times repeated in the newspapers— instead 
cf meeting the pressing and imperious necessity of the emergency. 

I claim but one merit in this production, and that i« by no means in- 
considerable. It is, that with a perfect knowledge of tht- furious, re- 
morseless, never-dying, and cut-throat bostility, w-ith which Faction ia 
all a^es has persecuted those who have dare<] oppose her — ami perfectly 
satisfied, that with us she is as implacable, as malignant, and as inexora- 
ble a monster as she has ever been, I have dared, nevertheless, to state 
the truth, regardless of the cousequeiKes. I was it is true, reiuctant- I 
should ba^te preferred by far, for the remainder of my life , steering c'ear 
©f the quicksands of praliticso I^one of the c^vesiKms that have hei'etofr re 
divided parties in this country could have induced me to venture upoa 
the tempestuous ocean. But at a crisis like the present, neutrality would 
be guilt. The question now is between the friends of social order, and 
jacobins, who are endeavoring to destroy the whole fabric of govern- 
Eient, with the slender chance of building it up again— between peace 
and harmony on one side, and civil war and anarchy on the other. A 
lamentable delusion prevails. The community «hut their eyes against 
tbe truth on tiiis subject. But this is the real state of the case, or I am 



12 PRFEACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



grossly deceived as ever was humaa being. And unless some of our iu- 
fluential men exti l themi^elve? to allay the storm, a few short months 
wiil exchange doubt into awful and dreadful certainty. 

AT hi)© I war delibes ating about the gacnfjce which j^uth a publication 
as this requires, one serious and affecting consideration resnovc d my 
doubts, and decided my conduct, ^"eeing thousands of the flower of our 
poi^ ulation — to whni»n tJ e spring of life ju?t opens with all its joys, and 
pleasures, and enchantments -prepared in the tf rite field to risk, or if 
necessary, saerifice their lives for their countjy's welfare ; 1 tlicught it 
would be baseness in me, whose sun h»s h ng f assed the meridian, and on 
whom the attractions of life have ceased to oj-erate with theii early 
fascinations, to have declined any risk that might arise from the effort 
to ward off the patricidal stroke ainied at a couuiry t(* which I owe furh 
Jieavy obligat ons. With this view of the subject 1 Ci uid not decide 
Otherwise than I have done. 

On the execution of the work it behoves me to offer a few remarks. I 
Icnowitis very considerably imperfect. It is hartlly possible to prej are 
any work under greater disadvantages than have attended the (iiive 
Branct]. A large portion of it is, therefore, crude, atid indigested, and 
without order. Were it a treatise on morals, religion, history, or 
scif liCe, which could not suffer by the delay necessary to mature and 
metliodize it, I should be unpardonable, and deserve the severest ccstiga- 
tion of criticism, for pres( nting it to the public in this unfinished state. 
J^iii the exig<*V.cies of the times are so pressing, that were it delayed till 
I could digest it proper ly, it might be wholly out of season. 

It "would be un'ust were I not lo acknowledge the nnmerous and weighty obli- 
gstiorss i owe to The Weekly Register.'' edited by H Ni es, the be-t periodi- 
cal work ever published in America, from which 1 have drawn a large portion of 
the facts and docnments that 1 have employed 1 venture to assert that no Ame- 
rican library can be complete without ihh work. 

I have carefully studied to be correct in point of fact and argumpnt. But the 
circumstances under which i have written render it probable that 1 may have fal- 
)en into errors 1 shall therefore regard it as a mo?t particular favor, if any gen- 
tleman who discovers them, however minute, will franVly point them out j^nd 
they shall be most cheerfully corrected if of sufficient importance. I ?hali m^^Ve 
a public acknowledgement in the nPw^papers. If the cause I espouse c^nt" t be 
suppoi ted by truth, candor, and fair argument, may it perish, never to find anoth- 
er advocate I 

PREFACE 

TO THE SECOIW EDITION, 

Philadelphia^ Jan. 4, IS 15. 

Ths oneqaivoeal an^ decided approbation with which the former edition of 
tbij= work ha? been favored by respectable men of both the hostile parties that 
div'.d- tiiis cour' ry, I regard as amona the n?ost grateful circumstances of my life. 
It"* 'lumerous defpcls — its want O; niothod and th^ ^reat imperfection oi its 
etyie and manner — wer«,,l presume,, regarded as atoned for- bji its obvious and 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITlOiST. 13 



undeniaDle object— the object of contributing iny feeble efforts towards allaying 
t le eiTervesceoce, the turbulence, the animosity that per?ade the commQaity, and 
are pregnant with such alarming consequences. 

Of the time that has elapsed since its tirst appearance, I have availed myself, 
to amplify— to methodise— and to improve it. And although I am very far in- 
deed fi oai presuming it to be perfect, yet 1 hope it will be found more entitled to 
patronage than it was in its original dishabille. 

It embraces a very convulsed period of our history ; and has been written un- 
der no common disadvantages. I have labored under a deficiency of various ma- 
terials and documents, which no exertions have enabled me to procure— and it has 
been begun, carried on, and completed in moments constantly subject to those in- 
terruptions inevitable in the pressure of business To suppose, then, it were per- 
fect, would argue a degree of insanity which tiie fondest and most doting deli- 
riuai of paternal vanity could har-'ly palliate. It would be a case unparalleled 
in ih annals of literature The world has had numerous instances of men of 
roost splendid talenis — of laborious research — with abundant materials and doc- 
uments— enjoy ;ng full leisure to do justice to their sublets — and employing 
years ior the purpose — yet falling into egregious errors. It could not then be 
expected that a work embracing such a variety of objects, and written under the 
circumstances 1 have statf^d- should be free from them. But the reader may rest 
assured that whatever they may be, they have not resulted from design They 
are the offspring of slenderness of talents— deticiency of materials — inadvertence 
— or that bias to which all men are subject in a greater or less degree, when trea- 
ting on .'subjects wherein they feel deeply interested ; of the latter, however, t 
hav(5 labored to dive«t myself 

Had I written wnth any view to literary reputation, "the work would have 
made a totally different appearance. Instead of presenting the reader with 
so many documents verbatim, I should, as is usual, have given abstracts of them, 
in ray own words — and thus formed a regular connected narrative of events, far 
more agreeable to read than the work in its present form, and rather easier to 
write ; for the reader may rest assured, that I have written three pages in Jess 
time than I employed in the search for a single document, which does not occupy 
one, and whereof 1 couid readily give an analysis ; and long, laborious researches 
for a document or newspaper paragraph or essay, have not unfrequently been 
wholly in vain. 

But though a thirst for literary repu-ation is far from illaudable — and though 
it inspires to great exertions, and has been the honored parent of soid? of the 
most stupendous efforts of the human mind — it has not liad the slightest influence 
on me <n this case It would have been utterly unavailing to counteract the 
loaihirig, the abhorrence 1 felt for entering into political discussion or for maVing 
my** If Once more an object of newspaper assault, of which few men in private 
life have been honored with a greater share. 

No. I appeal to hea vpn for the truth of what I now declare. I soared to 
higher objects, far beyond such narrow views. I believed — 1 still believe — that a 
dissolution of the union is contemplated by a few ambitious and wicked men; 
that in the state cf excitement to which the public mind is raised, and which is 
hourly iucreasin? by the most proSigate disregard of truth and the welfare of the 
country — and by the utmost prostitution of talents — a mere trifle would sufSce to 
pro luce a convulsion — (as, when you have collected together a quantity ol highly 
combust'ble materials, a single spark suffices to produce a confiagration) — that a 
dissolution of the union wouM infalliby produce a civil war ; that in the event of 
a civil war, there would be a struggle throughout the co^untry for the ascendency, 
trherein would be prrpetrated atrocities similar to those which disgraced the 
Trench revolution ; that even if we should be so fortunate as to escape a civii 
■ffar, or, (if we should not,) after it? termination, and the establishment of sepa- 
rate confederacies, the country would be cursed with a constant border war, fo- 
mented by the ostions of Europe, to whom we should be a sport and a prey ; and 
that, in one word, a natien most highly favored by heaven is on the very verge of 
perdition. 

B 



14 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION- 



These views may be erroneous They differ from those of most o f my fri^nt!*. 
The mass of the cominunity do not accord with them. But they are unaliej ably 
impressed upon my mind. 1 cannot shake them off. They are all supported hy 
the inbtruclive but neglected voice of history. J possess not the happ iatuity 
with which so many are endowed 1 cannot believe an event will not take place, 
because I hope and pray it may not. 1 am disposed to envy tliose who are thus 
gifted, it diminishes the hours of suffering, in a life so checkered as ours, this 

is some advantage. But it has, like all other blessings, a Gounterpoising evil. 

When we disbeiive in the approach of danger, we make no preparat ions to repel 
it. 

With these impressions I preferred risking any consequences however pernicious 
to myself, that caight arise from the present address, to a state of tc»-por nnd in- 
activity — to perishing without an effort. In a fianguine moment, 1 indulged the 
Mattering, the fond, (pray heaven it may not be the delusive) hope that my efforts 
might be so far crowned with success, as to make me the happy, the blessed in- 
strument of arousing even one, two, or three active, infiuential citizens from the 
morbid, the lethargic slumber, into which the community has been so fatally lull- 
ed that these might arouse others; and that thus he potent spells might be 
dissolved, which, in a manner unexampled in the history of the world, make ua 
regard with stupid, torpid apathy and indifference, the actual bankruptcy of our 
government (produced by a most daring conspiracy) — the impending destruction 
- of cur glorious constitution, the work of Washington, Fianklin, Livii gston, 
Hamilton, &c the depreciation of every species of property — and the appioach- 
mg ruin of our country. Should heaven thus bless me, die a;tei wards when 1 
may, i shall not have lived in vain. Should 1 fail, ou my tombstone shall 
■graven, magnis exciditauds.''^ ' 

I OiTer these great and solemn truths to the consideration of all who have at? 

interest in the welfare of this country. 

{. A (/par ati on of the states cannot he effected without an immediate CIVJL^ 
and an almost continual BORDER WjR ; and it must inevitably place us at the, 
mercy cf England^ and make this country the sport of the Europe n pontrs at cli 
Juture times 

il. As well naigbt we expect to re-unite* without flaw, the fragments of an ele- 
gant porcelain vy.se, shattered to pieces, as to restore tlie union, if dissolved but 
^r one hour 

ill A period of war, and invasion, and danger, is utterly unfit for repairing or- 
amending ^ eonstitution. Nothing but convulsion can arise out of the attempt. 

IV nt-ral Washington, in his legacy, one of tlie noblest frfforts of humaa 
wisdom, impressively urged his countrymen to frown indignantly tipon any at- 
tempt to impair or dissolve the-union, 

V. To hostile European powers a dissolution would be of immense and incal- 
. cylable advantage. 

VI. It would be inexpressible foily and madness to reject the policy dictated by 
Washington, and follow that which would be dictated by those powers of Europe 
^-Who regard our prosperity with jealousy. 

PLAN OF AlTvhlO]^ SOCIETY. 

" Above all Hhings hold dear your national union. Accustom yourselves t# 
estimate its infinite value to your individual and national happiness. Look on it 
as the palladium of your tranquillity at home ; of your peace abroad ; of your 
.safety j of your prosperity j and even of that liberty which you so highly prize.'* 

Washington's Farewell Address, 

Whereas many disaffected citizens have long labored to prepare tl:e public 
mind for a dissolution of the union, and the formation of separate confederacies ; 
and whereas they have at length publicly and daringly avowed their flagitious de- 
signs ; and whereas the experience cf all history to the present time affords the 
jfnogt complete proof that such dissolutions of existing forms of governmeutj and 



PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. I» 



-tbe formation of new ones, have almost invariably produced bloody civil wars^ 
the oreatest curse that ever aiiiicted mankind ; and whereas tiie present form ox 
the General government, it duly supported by our citizens, is calculated to pro- 
duce as hig.i a degree cf happmess as lias, ever fallen to the lot of any nation ; 
and wliereas the separate confederacies, contempla,ted as substitutes for the pres- 
ent jjeneral confederacy, even if it were possible to establish them peaceably, 
would be pregnant with interminable future wars, ^uch as have almost constantly 
prevailed between neighboring states, with rival interests, real or supposed, and 
would hold out every possible inducement, and every desirable facility to foreign 
nations, to array each against the other, and thus subjugate the whole, or at least 
render them dependent upon, or subservient to tliose foreign nations j and where- 
as^ tinally, it would be abs >lute madness to throw away the incalculable blessingg 
we enjoy, for the mere chance of bettering our condition, and still more for the 
ab«^oIute certainty of rendering it much worse : 

Therefore resdved^ that we the subscribers do associate under the title of the 
WASHINGTON UNION SOCIETV, of which the following is the 

CONSTITUTION, 

I. We solemnly plerlge ourselves to support, by every honorable and legal 
means in our power, tb*' existing form of the general government. 

II. That we will u^e ow utmost end'^avors to counteracL as far as in our power 
all plots for the dissolution of the union. 

in. That we will correspond, and cheerful )y co-opeiate, with all individuals, 
and bodies of men in all parts of the union, vvho have the ^ame views with us oq 
the object embraced in the second article, however they may di5er from us on 
other poliutal topics. 

IV. That the officers of the society shall be a president, vice-president, secre- 
tary, treasurer, committee of correspondence, and cojnmit'.ee of elections. 

V. That it shall be the duty of the committee of correspondence, to invite 
the good citizen": of tliis ^tate. and of the other states, to form similar societies, 
and to correspond with them ; to investigate and expose to public abhorrence, 
the variou plans that have been adopted frona time to time, to effect the patrici- 
dal purpose of dissolving the union ; to plac^ in the strongest point of light the ad- 
vantages of our bl- ssed form of government, with the tremendous consequences of 
civil war, and (the inevitable result of a separation) our bein-i iustrumenLs in the 
hands of the great powers of Europe, to annoy, ravag^e, depopulate, slaughter 
sod destroy each other. 



PREFACE 
TO THE FOURTH EDITION* 

Philadelphia, April 10, 1815v 

I CG3IMENCE this Preface, with feelings very different indeed from 
those by which I was actuated, when I penned the foruver ones. ProS" 
pects, public and private, have wonderfully improved. A revoIutioQ, 
immense, striking, glorious, and delightful, has taken place in the affairs 
of our bles.sed country, for which we canooi be snlficiently grateful to 
heaven. We have not— I say emphatically— we have not merited the 
change. I could assign various satisfactory reasons in proof of this 
opinion, extrar^rdinary as it may seem. I wave them. It is unnecessa- 

^ The third edition, of 1250 copies, was printed in Boston. 



19 PREEACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION, 

?y to enter into the recapitulation. But whatever may have been cuk 
past merits or demerits, 1 hope our prosperity is now fixed on a basis as 
irm as the rock of Gibraltar. 

In the present tranquilized state of the public mind, when the fears 
and solicitudes excited by the late alarming state of affairs have subsided, 
it will be difficult for the reader to justify, or even to account for the 
warmth which many parts of this work display. It is therefore but jus- 
tice to myself, to give a rapid sketch of the scenes through which we 
h'dve passed, in order to account for the excitement of my mind, so obvi- 
eus to every reader in the perusal of some of my chapters. 

The government had been nearly reduced tq bankruptcy. It had 
been unable to raise money to discharge the most imperious engagements. 
There was no general circulating medium in the country. The banks, 
from New York to New Orleans, inclusively, had, with perhaps one of 
two exceptions, suspended the payment of specie. I'he bank notes of 
Philadelphia and JSew York were depreciated in Boston Irom 15 to 25 
per cent, below par. And every feature in our political affairs wore en 
equally awful aspect. Whether the causes 1 have assigned in chapter 
LIT really produced this state of things or not, is immaterial. Be the 
cause what it may, the fact existed. Want of money bad partially sus- 
pended the recruiting service. And the pacification of Europe had 
quadrupled the disposable force of our enemy, and in the same degree in- 
creased our danger, and ilip necessity for energy and vigilance. 

Undt r these circumstances, congress was convened on the 19th of Sep- 
tember, nearly two months earlier than the period fixed by law, in order 
to make provision for such an extraordinary emergency. The state of 
the nation was tally detailed vo them in various executive communica- 
tions, which called, imperiously called for energy and decision. 

Rarely has a legislative body had more important duties to fulfil, or a 
more glorious opportunity of signalizing itself, snd laying claim to the 
public gratitude. Rarely have stronger motives existed to arouse every 
spark of public spirit or patriotism that had lain dormant in the heart. 
And I venture to assert, there hardly ever was a legislature that more 
completely disappointed public expectation — that more egregiously fail- 
ed of iis duty. 

The imbecility, the folly, the vacillation, the want of system, of ener- 
gy, and of decision, displayed by the majority — and the unyielding, the 
^stubborn, the violent, the factious opposition of the minority to all the 
measures for which the occasion go loudly called — have afilxed an indeli- 
ble stain on the memory of the thirteenth congress. They wili be long 
remembered with emotions neither of gratitude nor respect. No where, 
lam persuaded, in the annals of legislation, is thereto be found an in- 
stance of precious time more astonishingly misspent. They had been in 
session nearly five months when the news of peace arrived — and had but 
three weeks to sit. The spring, the season of hostility and depredation, 
was rapidly approaching. And what had they doiic to serve or save 
their country ? What provision had they made of men or money ? I>it- 
tle or none. Kearly ail the measures adapted for the emergency that 
had been brought forward in congress, had been defeated.* 

* I have asserted else^vhere, that Engla^.d presents much to admire and copy, 
lo this point, she i? tracscefidentlv superior to u?> Had parliament beer, called 
in such a crisis as '^xisted bst Peptcmbe? in this country, all the effective prepara- 
tloDg neces&ary to breast the storm weald have been made io one week. Some^-i 



PREFACE TO THE FOIJRTH EDITION. 



IT 



That this state of public affairs was calculated to excite warmth of 
feeling, and to calf forth a strong expression of that warmth must beob- 
viouj! — and wiil not merely account for, but justify the high-wrought pas- 
sages to be fouod in the work, which, U4ider other circumstances, 
tt24ght nerhaps be ikdsfensible. 

It vviti be asked, \That good purpose can the re-publication of this work 
answer at present? is it not, it wiil be said, far better to bury the 
hatchet, and to consign these things to obii\^ion, than to keep alive ani- 
mosiiy and discord ? 

Were the tendency of the Oiive Branch to keep alive discord, I should 
tlnhe^itatingly con^gn it to the flames. But I utterly disbelieve this 
wiil or can "be the consequence. I cannot adnjit that a fair detail of the 
mutual foilies of the two parties, has a tendency to perpetuate hostiiity 
between them. It is contrary to reason, coiiimoii sense, and the aniver° 
sal experience of mankind. 

Peace, or harmony, or coiicrliation, is not to be hoped for, while 
both parties c- )the theaiselves in the deceptious mantle of self-righteous- 
Ress — while tney not only believe themselves iinmcieulate, but their op- 
ponents mo. isiers unrediemedhu any virtue,''''* Nothing but a serious^ 
solemn, and deep-rooted conviction on both sides, of egregious miscon- 
duct, can lea 1 to that temper of mind which is necessary to produce a 
mild, coticiliating spirit While ooth parties act the part of the self- 
approving pharisee, we might with equal chance of success attempt to 
unite fire and water — light and darkness — virtue arid vice, as to recon- 
cile thetn. But when both regard themselves in their true light, as of- 
fendnrs against iheir diitief t-'* their country, they will be disposed to for- 
give that they may be forgi-ven. Ihis idea, which is the basi^ whereon 
tbis work rests, ha^ been mt)re than once stated, and cannot be too often, 
reprated, and i»!cuifated on the oublic mind. 

\ fondly hope this wirk will have other uses — that it may serve as 
beacon to other ti nes than ours. When a navigator discovers new 
sh'^ah. and rocks and qnick.wand§, he marks them on his chart, to adman— 
ish f iiure navigators to be on their guard, and to shun the destruction^ 

A hlch ignorance might lead. 
This strongly a4)plies to our case. By an extraordinary mixture of folly 
«- i wicked;!C we ind run the vessel of state on rocks and quicksands, . 
a.ul breakers, wh;^r. . she wa- in ip.iminent danger of perishing. We had 
broaii;ht to the ver^e of perdition the noblest form of government, and 
the most free and h'sppy people, that the sun ever beheld. But thanks 
to heaven — not to our virtue,! our public spirit, or our liberality— we 

the d?clam^'^ory speec'-'e? of two or three d^ys long, occupied a§ much time as- 
p^rliaraeot ^v'-'ul : kv? required to rai-e Sity millioDS of money, and to provide - 
me ius for embodying an -n my of >O,000 mem 

* Minstra nulla virliife vedempta. 

f T:te illustrious a^roes of the western country— -our gallant navy — several 
of oar^^enerais -^.ad ar-nie? on the lines — tiie citizens of Baltimore, and of Stoning- 
ion— the garrison at Crany Island^and the people of =ome other places — are ob- 
vious] v exempt f:om '"hi^ censure And never was there greater energy displayed^ 
thirj in !Srew Yo,}c, m making preparations for the warm reception of an enemy. 
Bat when we coasid^r the violence of the eastern states against the rnlers chcsca 
by the people, the torpor and indifference of the mighty state of Pennsylvania^ 
and of oilier portions of the union, we must heave a sigh, and draw a veil o^^^; 
^st sceaes. 

2: 



18 PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 



have escaped. "We hare arrived safe in port. I have endeavored to de- 
lineate a chart of the most formickhle of the recks on v. hich our vessel 
was striking, to serve as a guide to future state pilots. I trust the chart 
eaiinot be examined attentively without benefit. It establishes an im- 
portant, but most awful political raasioi, that during the prevalence of 
the destructive, and devouring, and execrable spirit of factwn, men, 
otherwise good and respectable, will too f»'equentiy sacriSce, without 
scruple or remorse, the most vital interests of their country, under the 
dictates, and to promote the views, of violent, and ambitious leaders! 
What a terriSc subject of contemplation '. 

The publication of this book has decided one point of considerable im- 
portance to the truth of history, and to the happiness of mankind. This 
point is, that it is not quite so dangerous, as has been supposed, for a 
writer to draw a portrait of his cotemporaries — provided the feature^ be 
jaithfuUy and impartially delineated. It has been too generally presum- 
ed that it is utterly unsafe to write of cur own times with truth. Wi h 
this idea I \ras impressed when I engaged in the work. And it required 
no cocinion stimulus to inspire me with the hardihood the undertaking 
required. 

But the event has falsined the anticipation. Without any of the ad- 
vantages that otSce, or rank, or connexions afford, I have dared publit-ly 
to call faction, and jacobinism, and disorganization — as well as factious 
men, and jacobins, and disorganizers — by their proper names, without 
distinction of party. And the reliance I placed upon the good scDse ot 
the public has not been disappointed. I^Iy efforts have been received by 
a large portion of the good nnd great men of the nation vi ith a favour 
and kindness, which fill my heart with the mo?t exquisite pleasure — and 
amply repay my trouble and my risiv — the sacrifice of my business and of 
my enj©ynietits, during the progress of the work — and held out eucour- 
agei2ent to political writers to shun that slavish and dishonorable devo- 
tion to party, whereby triuh is sacrificed, and history made a mere tissue 
of fables. If no other e3ect had been produced by this book, i ^houid 
not have written in vcin. 

The advantages of coiemporaneous writing are numerous < r, v. eight v. 
When the pasdng evenis are recorded and comu:euted on, while they are 
as it w^ere spread before our eyes, it only requires honesty of inten- 
tion to make the portrait a tolerab'e likeness. But when we treat 
on occurrences of *' yeHi-s that are past and gone/' it is like tracing the 
features of a deceased friend froai memory. 1 he gre^t and leading out- 
lines may be correet^ — but in filling up the drawing, many of the most 
Important characteristics most escape. 

It may not be improper to warn the reader that I aiD attached to^ and 
in general approve of the political views and most pari (not the w hole 
hy any means) of the cc-nduet of that paiiy which w as siigmat'zed a? 
. anti-federaK before the adopiioo of the federal constitution, and is now 
entitled democratic or republiean. We were called anti-feJeralists, be- 
cause we were eager to have the conatitutioD amended previous to it? 
ratification, doubting the practicabiiity of suieiidmeni afterwards. We 
were wild aiid extravagant enough to see despotism in many of its fea- 
tures, and were so fatoitous and blind as not to have the fl^gbtest idea of 
danger from the state governmertts. We have lived t * see cur miserable 
infatuation, and to deprecate and deplore its consequences. 

My reason for, this explicit avowal is, to induce the reader to receive 
my opinions and isferenc^s with that caution which is necesfary. from 



PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION, 19 

vhc probability of my being iir.der the inflLience of that bi?s, which more 
or less, every man feeels towards the party to which he is attached ; and 
wliich, r otwisthstanding I have sedulously endDavoied to guard jigaip.st 
its influence, may have occasionally led me a?tray. To no haraan being 
has heaven deigned to impart infallibility: and it would be almost a. 
miracle, if, in such a wide scope as I have taken, I were not sonjetiines 
warped by paf^sion or prejudice. 

But to this it is proper to add, that I believe no man ever wrote a 
book of tliis extent, and embracing such a variety of subjects, who 
made iigliter demands on the complaisance or credulity of ]i5s readers, 
than i have done. For as the subject.^ I have discussed are of incalculable 
moment — as the hapj)ines or misery of unborn mi! lions, as well as of this 
generation, depends on the coarse, we steer — as that course must be mate- 
rially aifected by the correctness or errors of the vievv s we may take of 
our past system of conduct — and as I have dared to cite before the bar of 
the public, men of high standing — great talent? — great v/ealth — and 
powerful influence— 1 have judged it proper to support, as far ag in my 
power, and to a degree hardly ever exceeded, all my important f?.cts, by 
tlocumentsof undefiiable autiiority. Many of my readers wi!i probably 
believe that I have gone unaecessary lengths in this respect. But I trust 
I have not. It is at all events far better to produce too much evidence 
than too little. 

Were every line of my own writing in this work annihilated, the 
documents, which are its bones, and sinews, and muscels, would be amply 
adequate to establish the positions I meant to prove. 

The strong style 1 have used in treating of the conduct of the eastern 
federalists, will be censured. But it may be defended on impregnable 
ground. In all their lucubrations on the motives of the v/ar — the pro- 
ceedings of the adrainistration^-and the conduct of their opponents— - 
they uniformly employ the most ur.qnaliusd terms of reprobation and con- 
demnation. To sheer, downright wickedness, all the errors tud misfor- 
tunes that have occurred, are ascribedr There is not the slightest shade 
of allowance made for human imperfection. A deep, wicked, and des- 
perate conspiracy to destroy commerce is assumed as the leading motive 
of government. And all its measures are ascribed to and accounted t'o: 
by, this absiurd, this unfounded, this often refuted allegation. 

Those who shew no mercy, have no right to compiain, if they are 
themselves treated with strict and unrelenting justice. ''With what 
ijieasure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.-' 

lhave ia the appendix, considerably extended the subjects of this 
work. 

The pacific policy which om' local situation aSbrds us reason to hope 
we may safely pursue, and which ouf interest dictates, has ind jced me to 
review the restrloiive system, and to point out its decisive eifects on the 
prosperity of England. It is a m.ost potent weapon — asd, had not fac- 
tion deprived it of its efficacy, would have insured us complete justice, 
and averted the horrors of warfare. To the defeat of this mild, but 
powerful instrument, we may justly charge all the carnage and the ex- 
pense of the war. 

An efBcient and safe mode of vdefence, whereby foreign aggression may 
be prevented, and internal tranquility preserved, is the^greatest desidera- 
tum in our political system. It is tlie key-stone of the^arch of our free- 
dom and happiness. I have therefore gone most copiously into the con- 
sideration of the subject. The authority I fiave produced' is irresistible. 



20 



PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 



T^either Pringle, nor Cnllen, nor Sydenham, on medicine— nor Blacfr, 
nor Lavoisier, nor Chaptal on i'hemistry — nor Luther, nor Calvin nor 
Wesley, among their reeiective folluwers, on religion — are superior 
authority to general Washington on militia service. have iheref :>i'e 
availed myself of his teptunony, to an extrnt which nothing but the 
immense luagnitude of die subject eon Id jnatifv. 

i have, likewise, in the appendix analyzed a small pamphlet, w hich 
I published }a?<t November, erititled, A calm address to the people of 
the sa'-tern states,'^ wherein 1 irave given a full xktw of the Very errone- 
ous opinions ent^^rtai.ied respecting the slave representation ; and f think 
fully proved, that notw ithstanding the unceasing outcry and clamor on 
the subject in the eartern states from the tinje of the organization of the 
g( vernment, those states have uniformly had mrire than their share of 
iniiuencein the legislature of the union, w ithout having any legard to 
the slave population. In the course of this investigation 1 have made 
two curious discoveries-— one, that New-York and Delaware have each 
a slave representative — and the other, that - assachusetts, although she 
has no slaves, has a representative of btrr black population. 

Before I dismiss the work from my hands, feeling, the solicitude of a 
pai'ent for his offspring, I cannot refrain from once more requesting the 
reader, w hen he tliscovers any errors of style or ruattei- — any deliciency 
or redundancy— or, in a word, any thing tocensuie, that he will bear 
in mind the dir advantages under which I have written — in hours stolen 
from sleep, and during the pressure of a business w hich in no common de- 
gree requires all the energies of body and mind ; that 1 have in my vari- 
ous editionjr, and in the public papers, solicited the suggestion of error?, 
%vhich, if pofrted out, 1 promised to eoriect ; — and ih'dt 1 have also m 
the papers, and r rivately, in vain solicited coujinunications from those 
who could and ought to have afforded them. 

On subjects that have employed so many thousand pens and tongues^ 
much nove'rty cannot be expected. It is possible thai there is not a new 
idea in the whole work. All that Dr. Franklin or Patrick Henry could' 
claim in the investigation of topics so long hacknied as those I have 
fiiscLissed, is the ari'an^ement. 

I fondly natter myse.f that in this work will b-e found materials for a 
c.omplpte defence of the the American nation in its intercourse with 
England. I am gros^ly deceived if the mild, forbearing, pacific system 
pursued by this country^ fe>r so m>any years, amidst such grievous pr« vo- 
cations, will not universally receive, as it deserves, the praise — and the 
©pl'-ressive, outrageous, and injurious conduct of England to us, the cen- 
gure — of all Christendom. 

It wouid be gross injustice to n^e to suppose, that I wish to perpetu- 
ate the hatred between the tw-o nations. It is very far from my inten-^ 
lion It is the interest of the United l^ates, and will be their policy, if 
treated with common decency or justice, to cultivate peace with ail the 
world. And X am. much deceived, if a plain and candid expt'sure «»f the 
vexatious, harrassing- insulting, and outrageous policy pursued by the 
successive ministers of Eegland, fn m the year iT9S, will not be the 
best means of preventing a recurrence of such impolitic and unjust con- 
duct. Thev have deeply injured us. But the injury they inilicted on 
the vital interest? of their own nation, has far exceeded what we have, 
suffered. 



I 



PREFACE 

TO THE SIXTH EDITION. 

Philadelphia, Sept, 6, 1815, 

ONCE more and probably for the last time, I offer the " Oiive 
Branch," to my fellow citizens ; improved and enlarged as far as in my 
power. I feel grateful for the kindness and indulgence extended to its 
imperfections. 

or the oi'igin and progress of a work, which has succeded so far be- 
yond all hninaa expectation, I may, perhaps, be permitted without in- 
earring the charge of vanity, to give a brief account. J^hould the detail 
be really cbargeabis to vanity, (no maii can judge correctly of himself) 
I hope it will be regarded as a venial failing. 

Ea^rlf in September, 1814, t was under as great a depression of 
mind, about the state of affairs, public and private, as 1 have ever expe- 
rienced. A deep and awful gloom pervaded the thinking part of the 
eommunity ! Thick clouds and darkness covered the horizon ! The keen- 
est eye could not behold, and could hardly ant'cipate a >ingle spark of 
sunshiael Washinjjton had been taken— and its public buildings destroy- 
ed with Gothic barbarity ! Alexandria had been pillage ( and plundered! 
Hampton had suffered rape and rapine ! Baltimore was menaced with 
signal vePigeance, and pointed :)Ut for military execution, iXj^ in papers 
published by cilizeiis of the U/iiled Slates ! ! Philadelphia and 'Sew York 
were hold ia a state of the most alarming suspense, dnd in daiiy expec- 
tation of a hostile visit — and, of perhaps sharing the fate of Washington 
and Alexandria ! 




PREFACE 



TO THE SEVENTH EDITION', 

I have made a nuinber of alterations, additions, and amendiiieBts in thepreg 
ent ed'tlon. for which f solicit a continuance or" that public indulgence and favor 
which h3ve been so liberally bestowed on me heretofore ^ 

The thr--;3 La^t chapters are entirely qpw Tba subject of the seventy third ig 
of vital importance to the peace and harmony of the country How far I have 
succeeded in establishia^y the positiooi i have undertaken to prove, I submit t© 
the decisioa of an enlightened coaamuajty. 



CONTENTS. 



CImp. ^ Page. 

1 Crisis rf affairs of the U. States. Dangers of parties and factions. 29 

2. Errors of ihe democratic party. CoustitunoQ. iS'avy. Alien law. 39 

3. Monroe's treaty. Separation of the states. Embargo. iXon-inter- 

course. 42 

4. Irapo.icy of a non renewal of the charter of the bank of the U. States 52 

5. Armistice proposed by admiral Warren 54 

6. Appointment of Mr. Gallatin. Gottenburg. Preparation? for defence. 58 

7. Genera. 8 Wilkinson and Hampton Proceedings of congress. Lament- 

able torpor, delay, snd procrastination. 63 

8. Capture of U ashington. Mismanagement. Captain Dyson. Loans. 

Injury to public credit. General izard. 69 

9. Federalists. Federal convention. Disorganizeis and jacobins. 7& 

10. Orders in council. Rule of 175G. Mercantile clamor, 82 

11. Boston memorial. IStrong call for protection 

12 Newyork memorial Solemn pledge of support. 89 

13 Extracts ft om Phiindelphia mercantile memorial. 91 

14 Extract frem Baltimore memorial. 93 
15. Newhaven memorial. Decisive call for resistance. Newhuryport me- 
morial 9() 

16 Saltm memorial. Solemn pledge of support in the event of war« 93 

17: Reflections on the memorials. Uniform call for redress ' 101 

18 Character of merchants, by E. Bu ke. lUibfral and uniotinded. 103 
19. Briiish depredations brought on the tapis, in the senate of the U. States. 

Aneba.ssadors extraordinary to England, 109 

20 Attack on the Chesapeake. Interdictory proclamation. Ill 

2;. Blockade of the coast from the Elbe to Brest Berlin decree. 120 

22. Orders in council of November II- 1307 Milan decrees. 122 

23. Orders in council defended by Americans. Baring's inquiry. 127 

24. Embargo, a wii^e. prudent, and necessary measure. Factious clamor. 

Situation of American commerce. 132 

25. Inquiry into the coustitutionaiity of the enforcing act. Lamentable pub- 

lic delusion. 141 

26 Patriotic proceedings. 149 

27. John Henry's mi>sion to the eastern states. Instructions from the gov- 

ernor general of British Aoierica. 152 

28. Embargo repealed. British and French vessels interdicted our harbors. 

Importations from both countries prohibited. 16r» 

29. Embargo recommended to congress by a respectable body of Newyork 

mere hunts. 176 

30. Erskine arrangement Liberal and magnanimous. Loudly applauded. 

Reject-d by England. 172 

31. Impressment o*' American seamen. Plea of James Madison. Of Wm. 

Cobhpt Of Weekly Register. 192 

32 Impressment during Gen ral Wj^shington's administration, 197 

33. Impressment during Mr. Adams' administration, Judge Marshal's in- 

structions. 199 

34. Mr. LisTon'e project for a convention for the delivery of deserters. Ob- 

j tied to by Messrs. Pickering, Stoddard, Wolcott, and M'Henry. 

Rejected. 206 

35. Horrors of impressment, as submitted to congress by Timothy Pickering, 

e^q. secretfiry of st ^.te. 208 

36. Impressment during the ?d ministration of Mr, Jefferson. Letter from 

B-u^us King. Arrangement with loitl St. VinceBt rejected by Mr. 

King. ^ 21 d 

37 Documeuf^ on impressment cont'nued, 213 

38. Subject of inapressmeut concluded. ^19 



CONTENTS. 



39. Egregious error eommitted by the author of the Olive Branch. Ampie 

preparatioEs made for war 229. 

40. Reproaches of the minority against the majority for their imbecility. 

British deceived by their friends. 233 

41. War proceedings in congress. Yeas and nays. Inexplicable conduct of 

Mr. Quincy and his friends. 236 

42. Declaration of war. Violently opposed 241 
43- Peace party. Composed of warlike materials Repeated clamor for war. 243 

44. inquiry into the justice of the war. Awful accesations against the gov- 

ernment. 249 

45. Considerations of the orders in council. Reprobated by James A. Bay- 

ard, Harrison G. Otis, and James Lloyd 256 

46. Inquiry continued Warranted on the ground of impressment alone, ac- 

cording to the doctrine of James Lloyd. 265 

47. Turbulence of Boston. Jealousy and discord sedulously excited. Yan- 

keeism. Moral and leligious people. 268 

4S. Arrogance of the claims of the eastern states on the subject of commerce. 

Statistical tables. . 276 

49 Comparisons of the exports of the different states, foreign and domestic, 

from 1791 to 1813. Glance at tonnage 286 

^0. Duties on imports. Southern states pay nearly as much as the eastern. 

Wonderful delusion. 293 

"I. No hostility in southern states towards the eastern. Commercial end 

agricuitral states mutually dependent on each other. 298 

52= Money the sinews of war Associations to prevent the success of the 

loan?. Efibrts to bankrupt the government. ' 305 

53. Smuggling carried to great excess in Boston Specie abundant. Oppres- 
sive drafts on Kewyork. Treasonable intercourse with Canada. 313 

34. Subject rontinued. Brief Statement «f facts 32i 

§5. Massachusetts compared with Tennessee. Blind leading the blind. Pro- 
fits of trade fifty percent. Road to ruin. 323 

56. Pulpit politics. Prostitution of the sacred functions. Anthology of Se- 

tiition. , ^27 

57. Parties change names and character. Jacobins. Unholy struggle for 

powe.r csuse of all our dli^icuities. 334 

58- Illiberality of prejudices against foreigners. Ungrateful on the part of 

America. 337 

59. Address to the federalists of the U States. 344. Postscript. 350. Ap- 
pendix. 351 

$0. Orders in cf uncil. Restrictive system. Impolicy of the British ministry. 353 

6L England said to be sfrujiglir:^ for her existence. This uo palliation of 

her outrages on neutral nations 366 

€2. Senatorial represent ^-tion examined. Factious delusion. Statistics. 371 
' S3. Statistics continued. Slave representation fairly stated. 374 

64. Inquiry into the charg^e against the southern states cf destroying com- 
merce to promote manufacture 582 

€5. IVIilitia defence. Clascificatiou system rejected. 383 

€6, Right of society to coerce and duty of citizens to a'^Tord military ser- 
vice, recognised by the constitution and laws 386 

67. Power of congress to call out the militia Usual mode of drafting op- 
pressive, unequal, and unjust. ' 393 

88. Inefficiency of roiliti?^ generally. Extravagantly expensive. 397 

69. Clas^Kica^ion militia a measure of the revolution. Borrowed by Bo- 

naparte Grrera] Knox'^s plan 4CS 

70. GeT^'m'^.nderism Grand discovery to enable a minority to rule the 

maj'^rity. 

71 St?te of representation in Ma?=achui5etts. 41i 

72. ^^onderfu) cr»ntrast. l(ivoc?^i<^n to war. 422 

73. ProFperin of the U S^^/f es during the different abrainistrations. 427 

74. MiscelianeGitS observation?, 



THE 



OLIVE BRANCH, ^c. 



CHAPTER L 

Crms of the affairs of the United States. Dangers of parties 
and factions. SiTnil&nty of our situalion to that of France^ 
Italy and England^ previous to their civil wars. To excite 
hisun^ection easy. To allay it difficult, Dangeroustenderi" 
cy of inflammatory publications. 

THE situation of the United States was in the fall of 
1814 highly critical. Party and faction, the bane and de- 
struction of ail the old republics,* were carried to such ex- 
travagant lengths, as to endanger the public tranquillity— 
and perhaps lead to civil war, the greatest scourge that ever 
afflicted mankind. Unceasing efforts were used 1o excite 
our citizens to open resistance of the government.^ This 
principally took place in the eastern states ; but there was 
hardly a portion of the union, in which there were not per- 
sons constantly employed in inflaming the public mind, and 

* An idea has been propagated by superficial writers, and pretty universal- 
ly believed by superficial readers, that party and faction are peculiar to re- 
publics. Never was there a greater error There is hardly a body of men, 
how small or insignificant soever, that is not disturbed more or le?s by party 
and faction WHtbiH the last ten years, one-half, at least, of the Religious Cob- 
gregations in Philadelphia, have been distracted by discord and faction, which, 
in more instances than one, have been carried to the extr.-me length of abso- 
lute separation. And, to mount higher, who can forget tl.e violent factions at 
the commencement of the reign of George III when England was on the ve- 
ry verge of insurrection — and let me add the religious cruside of Lord G< orge 
Goi-don, which was the offspring of faction, and terminated in enkindling thir- 
ty-six fires at once in London — of wliich city the Uiob had undisturbed posses^ 
sion for several days. All the felons, and other tenant: of the prisoii^ had 
their chains knocked off and were let loose one-- morr- to prpv on fl» ■ public. 
The enumeration were endless. Let this slight slettii ^^:fEec 

f These topics will be fully discussed in specific chapters at the ciP«e .<)f tLif 

P 



30 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



preparing it for commotioas Thousands and ierus of thou 
sands of citizens, U;:rlo ht, honest, and honorable in j>rivate 
life, were so deluded hy the madness of party as to heJieve, 
that the defesit, the disgrace, and the disasters of our armiesf— 
the destrjictioii of he rji)lic credit^—(as leading totheexpu!^ 
sion from their stations of the highest public functionaries du- 
ly chosen by the people) were all " a consummation de- 
voutly to be wished" — and the certain means of procuring a 
speedy and an honorable peace, vvhich we could not fail to 
obtain from the magnanimity of Great Britain, provided we 
removed those siublic officers, whom, according to them, she 
hail sa much reason to execrate. 

It was in vain that the uniform voice of history proclaimed 
that the generosity of nations towards each other is a nonen- 
tity ; that the terms of a treaty are more or less favorable or 
injurious in proportion to the relative strength, and energy, 
ami me^ns of annoyance or defence, of the parties ; that pow- 
erful nations have almost always taken advantage of the fee- 
bleness of their adversaries ; and that the certain road to a 
speedy and an honourable peace has ever been to wage war 
T\ith the utmost decision and effect. 

Were history wholly silent on this topic, the inherent pro- 
pensities of human nature, properly explored, might satisfy 
every rational mind of the soundness of these political max- 
ims. They are fair deductions of reason and common sensei 
to which the universal experience of mankind bears testimo- 
ny. Ever}'^ nation, in its periods of debility, has been oblig- 
ed occasionally to submit to injustice. Every nation, pos- 
sesshig the power to do injustice, has more or less availed 
itself of the opportunity^ 

* See second Note, at the bottom of the preceeding page, 

f To some of my readers this will seem impossible. It certainly appears 
Incredible. But there are many things very incredible, that are nevertheless 
true. A nd it is capable of the most complete judicial pi oof, that gentiemeo 
highly estimable in private life, have thanked God most fervently for the dis- 
graceful capture of our armies. Others have prayed to God that every one of 
our soldiers who entered Canada, might be slaughtered. This is one of the 
many strange and unaccountable instances in which our history is utterly uii- 
Mke the histories of the other nations of the earth, it is really a sui generis, 
I feel pretty conSdent that no man of character or worth in England or France^ 
ever rejoices at the disgrace or disasters of his country. But I bhish to tell it^ 
the disgrace of our armies has been repeatedly a subject of as much exulta- 
tion in our coffee houses and our- newspapers, as in the city of l^ondon. I could 
name individuals of the utmost worth in all the social relations, except thai, 
Tvhich they hear to their country., whose satisfaction at the distresses and eia^ 
barrassDaeats of out g<»verumeiit has at least e^^ualled that of lord Castle^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



31 



I was aware, that my fears of civil wap w^ere regarded as 
visionary, as tiie wild eiTusions of a disorded brain. I found 
myself ill a small minority. And were tlie correctness of 
oj)inlons to be tested by the numbers who entertain them, 
mine vvouUl appear most miserably erroneous. But, this is a 
conclusion not w arraiited by history. It had been a thousand 
times asserted, and will be as often repeated, that the people of 
the United Blates were too enligbtened to fall into such a fatal 
error, and that they knew too w ell the value of the blessings 
they enjoyed, to sacrifice them so absurdly. Such a delusion 
was pardonable a few years pre vious to that period. But our 
then recent, slJipeiKious follies ought to have wholly dispell- 
ed it. We disjdayed, in many casts, as much immii^ as the 
liislory of the world exhibits in any of its pages. 

Danger is not diminished liy shutting our eyes against it^ 
approach, or by denying its existence. This would be a 
cheap price to pay for securit}'. But it is not to be purchas- 
ed thus. And those who seriously weigh the causes that led 
to the civil wars which desolated France, under the house 
of Yaiois; England under Charles I. ; and Italy for entire 
centuries, with hardly any intermission ; will have reason to 
believe that our security w as by no means so well founded as 
was generall}^ supposed. In numberless points of view, out 
situation and our proceedings bore a very strong analogy to 
those of the three nations to w hich I have referred, immedi- 
ately previous to their respective civil wars. Whoever reads 
with due attention Davila's history of Fraiice, Machiavel'^ 
of Florence, or Clarendon's of the rebellion under Charles I., 
will be astonished at the near resemblance.'^ 

The difference between our situation a few 5 ears since, 
and the hite turbid state of th.e country, was indubitably far 
greater than from where v> e then stood to insurrection, and 
separation, and civil war. AYhile there were so man}' com- 
hustibie materials scattered abroad, and such unceasing 
pains taken to inflame the public mind, very trivial accidents 

* Th(^ divi^iorss, and distractions, snd factions, that prevailed r.mong, and 
the bufcheries allernatety perpetrated on encb ether, by the contending par- 
ties in tlie GrecieiTi ?i«d Italian republics, are ably and instrucJively detailed in 
the Defence of tl'.e American Constitiitioijs by the ex-presldent John Adams. 
This work has not had the fate it merited. It has been Wid aside and aioiost 
forj^otten. Yet there is no wort extant -v^liicb contains more useful lessons 
for an American — none in -which the horror? of faction are more forcibly dis- 
played — rone that our slatesnien and politicians ought to study more care- 
fully. A f<rw passages, selected here and there, have been employed for the 
purpose of decrying it, and with tec nincb. success. But there never yet was a; 
iiumrin prcductioD that might not bft coDdeiiined to the flames by the saice znpde 
of tfial. 



02 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



might have enkindled a conHcOgration. — Once unhinge a gov- 
ernment—once let loose mankind from the restraints of law 
and constitution — and the human mind cannot readily calcu- 
late the terrible result. 

It was said, that those vdio had for years urged the propri- 
ety, and necessity, and advantages to the eastern states, of a 
dissolution of the union, did not intend to proceed tiius.far; 
and that they held out these threats i?i Urrorcm to a^ve the 
administration. There is the strongest possible reason to be- 
lieve that this was a pernicious, a fatal error — and that the 
leaders of tise malcontents were perfectly serious in their 
Tie^ s of a separation. How often had the churclies echoed 
with the insurrectional, the treasonrvble, the fanatical, the re- 
bellious cry, " WHERE IS OUR MOSES ? Where is tlic 
^od of his miracles? Where is our Aaron ? Have we no Mo- 
^s to had lis Old of ilie land of Eg^vpi Fatuity itself could 
*Jot mistake the meaning of this species of declamation. But 
♦even were the leaders merely threatening, it afforded us no se^ 
purity against the ruinous result. Those ^Yho raise the 
storm of civil cominotions, possess not the power at pleasure 
to aHcjy 5(s violence — to say with effect, " thus far shall thou 
^:o, and no fcirther." This theory was fully exemplified in the 
eivii w^^rs of England between Charles I. and his parlia- 
ment, and likewise in the French revoluuoa. Ti:e latter, of 
which nearly all tlie earlj'^ leaders perished in jails aiid on 
scaffolds, is: a very strong case. Very few of these distin» 
guished and illustrious men contemplated a recourse to arms. 
They hoped for a bloodless triumph over tyranny. But 
they were borne down and destroyed by violent, and wick- 
ed, and sanguinary men, or rather monsters, whom their j)ro- 
ceedings released from restraint, but whom their utmost ef- 
forts could not restrain or control. 

Never had brighter prospects shone on a nation than those 
that shone on the United States. Never had a nation been 
more highly blest. Never had the security of person and 
property — of liberty, civil and religious — been attained by 
Buch easy sacrifices. Never had the weight of government 
pressed more lightly. It was not felt. Never had the fond- 
est theories of philosophers and lovers of mankind, been 
more compietel}^ realized. 

Our case w^as very analagous to that of a youth w ho inher- 
its a ?c^rge estate, and, unacquainted with the difficulty of its 
acquisition, cannot form an estimate of its value. This can 
only be done by a due consideration of the condition of those 
Kho are destitute of the advantages of fortune. He becomes 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



3% 



ST prodigal. He lavishes away his treasures. He only Uiea 
begins lo appreciate them, when they are irretrievably 
squandered. This was precisely our case. We had not suf- 
ficiently compared our situation with that of the mass of 
mankind.— We had never taken a full view of the glorious, the 
inestimable advantages w e possessed. We had the most no- 
ble inheritance that ever fell to the lot of a nation, and had 
not duly appreciated our happiness. We had jeopardized 
it most wantonly and f^ituitously. — We w ere on the verge of 
its total loss. A little further progress in folly and madness, 
and we should have been undone. We had by rapid strides, 
f?p])roached the banks of the Rubicon. Whether we should 
plunge in, and ford the stream, or, struck v^ith a due sense of 
our errors and our danger, make a retrograde movement, and 
regain the elysium whence we started, was in the womb of 
lime. Heaven directed us to the blessed alternative! Be- 
yond the stream verges a dreary desart, where anarchy and 
civil war hold their terrific reign, with al! their long train of 
liOrrors, and where tl^.e devious paths lead directly to ruth- 
less despotism. 

It was time, therefore, to make a solemn pause — to retrace 
pur steps — and, since we refused to profit by the sad expe- 
rience of other ages and nations, to avail ourselves cf our 
own. By honest endeavours by abating the odious vio- 
lence of party spirit — by mutual compromise — by rending 
asunder the odious, the degrading, the pernicious yoke of 
the violent men w hose influence and prosperity depended on 
public commotions — v» e might happily regain the ground we 
had lost — we might dispel the delusion tliat was leading us 
to temporal perdition 

To vindicate mvself from the charge of folly, in mv jrloo- 
my apprehensions and anticipations, I submit to the reader 
a feW' specimens of the unceasing efforts which for years hav^ 
heen making to enkindle the flames of civil war. That we 
have not yet been involved in it, is not justly chargeable to 
the w ant of a due degree of labour and industry. Never was 
more activity displayed- — never was a cause more sedulous- 
ly or ably advocated. And never was there less scruple 
about the means, provided the ead was accomplised. 

" On or before the 4th of July, if James Madison is not out of ofi3ce. a fitn> 
Jhrm of government nill be in operation in the taUtrn section of the union. 
Instantly after, the contest in many of the states nill he, whether to adhere to 
the old, or join the nen- government. Like every thing else foretold years ago, 
and which is verified every day, this warning will be also ridiculed as visoiia- 
ry. Be it so. But Mr. Madison cannot complete his term f>f service, if the 
■war continues. It is not possible ; and if he knew human nature, he wosl^ 
^eeit,'* F&derat Rer}iiblica7i^ November 7, IBH, 



34 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



" Is there a federalist, a patriot in America, who conceives it his duty to 
shed his biood for Bonaparte, for Madison, for Jefferson, a-Kl that HOST OF 
RUFFIANS in Congress, who have set their faces against US for 5-ears, and 
spirited up the BxIutal part of the populace to destroy us ? Not one. — 
Shall we then any longer be heJd ia slavery, and driven to desperate poverty, 
by such a graceless faction P— Heaven forbid." Boston Gazette. 

** If at the present trmment, no symptoms of civil 7var appear. rr-?=> THE Y 
CERTAINL Y WILL SOON, unless Vie courage of the rv'ar paii^jHl ihimV 
Sermon by David Osgood, D. D. Pastor of the church of Medford, delivered 
June26, 1812, page 9. 

" A civil war becomes as certain as the events that haj-pen (recording to tkt 
known laws and established course of nature.''^ Idem, page 15. 

If we would preserve the liberties, by tliat struggle [the American revolu- 
tion] so dearly purchased, the call for RESISTANCE cgaimt the unirpations 
qf our own government is as urgent as it nas formerly against those of our 
mother country.''''* 

*| If the impending negociation with Great Britain Is defeated by insidious 
artifice ; if the friendly and conciliatory proposals of the enemy should not, 
from Frerich subserviency, or views of sectional ambition, be met througiiout 
with a spirit of moderation and sincerity, so as to terniinate the infamous war 
which is scattering its horrors around us, and arrest the calamities and distress 
of a disgraced country, it is necessary to apprise you, that such conduct nill be 
710 longer borne with. The injured Slates nill be cimpdlcd, by every r/ioiice of 
duty, interest, and, honour ; by one raanly exertion of fhtir strength, to dff^h 
into cLio7ns the bonds of tyranny. It nill then be too (ate to retract The die 
nill be cast. Freedom preserved."''-^ 

A separation of the States nill be an inevitable renult. Motiiz^ numeroii". 
and urgent nill dcmund that raeasvre. As they originate in oppresdon, the op- 
pressors must he ra.pcjnsihle for the riiowentous and. contingent events, arinvj^ 
from the dissdhdion of the present confederacy, end the erection of separate 
governments. It will be their work. While posteril} will admire the inde- 
pendent spirit of the Eastern section of our country, and with sentiments oi 
gratitude, enjoy the fruits of their firmness and wisdom — the descendants of 
the South and West will have reason to curse the infatuation and folly of your 
councils.-' (Idem page 9.) 

" Bold and resolute,, when they sf^p forth in the sacred cause rf freedom and 
independence, the Northern people will secure their ohjecl. No obstacle can im~ 
'pede them. No force can withstand thnr powerful arm. The most numerom 
armies will melt before their manly strength. Does not the page of history 
instruct you, that the feeble debility of the South, never could face the vigor- 
ous activity of the North p Do not the events of past ages reniind you of the 
raluabk truth, that a single spark rf Northern liberty, esptcialiy when en- 
Ughteyied by congenial commerce, will ecsplode a •whole atmosphere of sultry 
Southern despotism ? You well know the termination of the expedition of 
Xerxes, with his hundreds of thousands, against the Greeks ! The commer- 
cial Athenians taught the debilitated tyrant of Asia, on the plains of Maru- 
thon, and at the streights of Salamis. of what exertions Freedom is capable* 
when roused by oppression. The hardy Macedonians not only defeated and 
dispersed countless hordes of Southern eSeminacy, but traversed their coun- 
try at pleasure.''* (idem page 12 ) 

Discourse delivered before the lieutenant governor, the council, and the 
two houses composing the legislature of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
May 31, 1809. By David Osgood, D D. page 25. 

f * Northern grievances, set forth in a Letter to James Madison, by a NcrtTi 
American." Published May, 1814, and circulated with great industry^ 
throughout NewfEi^laBd and New-Ypxk. page 4. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



35 



" When srTch are the eSTects cf oppression upon men resolved not to submit, 
as dist^layed in the North and South of Europe, acid in all ages of the worjd, 
do you fiatter yourself with its producing a ditferent operation in this country 
Do you think the energies of iSorthern freemen are to be tamely smo-.hered P 
Do you imagine they will allow tlitinselves to be trampled upon with iiupuni- 
tv i' And by whom? The Southeni and ^V'estern States ! by men who:e uni- 
ted efTorts are not sutficient to keep in order their own enji sved population, 
and defend their own frontiers i by vra; riors whose repeated allenipis at iisva- 
^ion of a neighbouring province, have been disgraceially foiled by a handful of 
disciplined troops ! by Generals, riionuments of arrogance and folly I by coun- 
<;ils the essence of corruption, imbecility and inadne-s ! 

Tke aggregate sireri.^th of the SuiUh and Vi 'ssi^ if bro'u-ghi against the Ncrlk^ 
'mould he driven into the ocean, or hock to tkeir C7in sv^Ury rcilds — and ikey 
might fiink ihemsehcs forlujiafe if they escaped otner piinishmmt than a de- 
feat^ rvkich thdr ieuirrif v would, merit. V^hile the one would strive to en- 
slave, the other v.'ouh.i fight for freedom. While the councils of the one would 
be distracted with discordant interests ; the decisions of the other w<:.»ild he di- 
rected by one soul. Beware I Pause ! before you take the fatal plunge 

(idem pai^e 13.) 

" You hnve carried your oppressions to the ulmost stretch. fVe^viil no 
longer submit. Restore tiie Constitution to its piirity : give us security for 
the future, indemnity for tlie past. Abolish every tyrannical law. ?vlake an 
immediate and tionorable peace. Revive our Commerce. Increase our na- 
vy. Protect our seamen. Unless you cowply nith these just denunds^ rcilh - 
out delay, ive nill niihdrcw from the Union, scatter io the ninds the bonds of 
tyranny f and transmit to posterity, t/iut Liberty purchased by the Revolution.'*'* 

(Idem pa2;e 16.) 

" Americans ! PREPARE YOUR ARMS— 3/^1; 7n[l soon be c Alcd to u^e. 
them. We nai^t use them for the emperor of France, OR FOR OUR- 
SELVES. It is but an indivldaal who now points to this ambiguous alterna- 
tive. But Mr. Madison and hb cabal may rest assured, there is in the hearts 
of many thousands in tills abused and almost ruined countiy, a sentiment and 
energy to illustrate the distinctioo when his madness shall call it into action.*' 

{Boston Repertory.) 

*' OUl Massachuseiis is as ierrith to the American, non\ as she was to the 
British caJnnet in 1775 ; for America^ too, has her Butes end her Norths. Let 
then the commercial states breast themselves io (he shock, and know that to them- 
selves they must look for safety. All party bickerings mu^t be sacrificed oo 
the altar of patriotism. Then^ and not till then, shill they humble the pride 
and ambition of Virginia, whose strength lies in their weakness ; and chastise 
iht insolence of those madmen of Kentucky and T innessee, rcho aspire to the 
gnvern'7nent cf these states^ and threaten to involve the country in all the horrors 
vf war. " {Nerv^ York Commercial Advertiser. ) 

The language of the writers is plain and unequivocal. It 
axlmits of no mistake or misconstruetion. That thev intend- 
ed to produce insurrection and dissolution of the union, ua^- 
less they and their friends were enabled to seize upon the 
government, regardless of the frightful consequences, ii would 
require consummate inpudence to deny ; it would be folly, 
or insanity to disbelieve. What might ultimately be their 
success, it w^as impossible to foresee. Every thing depend^ 
e<i on the course pursued by those who ha4 an interest in the 
public welfare. If they were not wanting to themselves and 
to their coimtry, we were sure to rise triumphant over our 
^ffieulti€s asd embarmssmeuts. But if the theii prevsiliof 



3& THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

wonderful apathy continued ; if we remained slug'gisliiy w ith 
our arms folded, ^vhile our situation became daily more aw- 
ful and alarming; ruin was inevitable. We should have af- 
iorded one of the most striking instances in history, of pre- 
mature decay and decrepitude. The Lord in his mercy has 
averted such an awful fate 1 

Reliance was placed by those who denied the existence of 
the danger wliich I deprecated, upon the sober character of 
the nation. They regarded that character as a. guarantee 
against civil war. I was well aware of tliis circumstance. I 
allowed it a due share of inSuence and importance. Eut the 
strong inference drawn from it, w^as unwarranted by liis-tory. 
And let it be observed, once for all, that the only unerring: 
guide in government, or politics, is history, to tlie neglect of 
whose lessons may be ascribed more than two thirds of our 
errors and fi}!lies. 

The Athenians were a highly polished, and a refined peo^ 
pie. No nation in ancient times, ever excelled them in tlieso 
respects. Yet they were occasionally seduced into the most 
frightful cruelties by their Cieons and other cnra2:€s. They 
often massacred their prisoners in cold blood, and long after 
ihey were taken. And the proscri-^tions and butcheries the 
adverse parties perpetrated on each other, as tiiey gained the 
ascendency, are frightful subjects of reflection, and to us hold 
out most Invaluable warnings. 

No nation of modern Europe excelled France, few equal- 
led her — in courtesy- — in mildness — in url»anity. And yet 
never did mankind exhibit themselves under a more hideous 
faspect — rnever didiliey change nature more completely w ith 
wolves, tygers, and hyaenas, than the French under iMarat, 
Danton, Coiithon, and Robespierre. \^ These are aivfid 
les'scns, to iDliich those wlio ivere lending their aid to tear dotvn 
the pillars of our government^ ought to have attended, 

Man is the same every where, under the same excitements* 
We have our Cleons, and our Couthons, and our Dantons, 
and our Robespierres, who only required suitable occasions to 
have given scope to their energies. Mild and gentle as is 
the American character generally, the revolution in this 
country exhibited in various places, where, the parties were 
rancorou&ly embittered against each other, many terrifying 
scenes. Prisoners were often hung up without trial by the 
partizans on both sides. Men and women w ere treacherous- 
ly shot down in their bouses. And not unfrequently private 
malice, to sate its rage, disguised itself under the cloak of 
p'lblic spirit. Let us ponder w ell on those circumstaaces^ 
They are fraught with important admouitigiis* 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



81 



To apjily a remedy to any evil, moral or physical, it is in- 
dispensably necessary to explore its nature— to ascertain its 
causes — and to trace its consequences. Any other proce- 
dure arises from error and folly, and is pregnant with defeat 
and disappointment. 

Witirthis view I respectfully solicited the public atten- 
tion. I took a rapid retrospective glance at the folly and 
guilt, which the factious and discordant state of our country 
had generated. As far as in my power. I divested myself of 
any party bias, and treated the subject as if it belonged to an- 
other age or naiion. Whatever errors I fell into, arose not 
from sinister intention: they were chargeable to inadvert- 
ence and human imperfection. On my freedom from partial- 
ity, 1 felt the more reliance, from my unalterable conviction, 
that both the hostile parties that divide this country, and who 
regard each other with so much hatred and jealously, had 
hirgely contributed towards the misfortunes that had befallen 
us — the melancholy change that had taken place in our situ* 
ation — and the dangers that threatened us. It was impossi- 
ble for a candid mind to review the scenes through which w e 
had passed for some years, without a thorough conviction, 
that each had been guilty of most egregious errors and 
follies, and occasionally of something worse than either; and 
that whenever the interests of the nation and the interests of 
Ike party came in collision^ the former had been too frequently 
sacrificed'^ by both federalists and democrats to the latter. No 
man who has any public spirit, can take a review^ of our his- 
torv w ithout feelino; the deepest regret at the extent of the 
mischief this miserable system of conduct has produced. It 
has defeated many of the noblest plans that the wisdom of the 
country has ever devised. I may be wrong in my calcula- 
tions ; but I believe it has j)revaiied to at least as great an 
extent here, as in almost any other country, or at any other 
period of time. When the present generation sits for its pic- 
ture to the historian, it will form a strong contrast to that 
which is past and gone. The errors or follies, however, of 
either party would have produced but little injury compara- 
tively, had not those of the other conspired to give them ma- 
liscnitv and effect. 

FroFn this exposition of my views, it was obvious I should 
steer a course very different from the generality of writers on 
political topics. With hardly a single exception, their ob- 



^Thia is one of the most lamentable and hiimiiiating facts in -our bistory. 



38 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

ject is, having espoused a party, to justify and emblazon il& 
supporters, whether right or wrong ; and, if needs be, 

To make the worse appear the better caubC." 

In pursuit of this object, their own partizans are ail angels of 
light, — w hose sublime and magnificent plans of policy are 
calculated to produce a political millenium ; and their oppo- 
nents, demons Incarnate, intent on the destruction of the best 
interests of the country. These portraits are equally unjust 
and incorrect. One is all beauty, v;ith little resemblance to 
the pretended original — the oilier a hideous caricature, equal- 
ly foreign from lienor, truth, and justice. 

Among the frightful consequences resulting from this odi- 
ous practice, a plain and palpable one presents itself. These 
horrible portraits engendered a satanical spirit of hatred, 
malice, and abhorrence in the parties towards each other. 
Citizens of adverse opinions, whose views were perfectly 
pure and public spirited, were to each other objects of dis- 
trust and jealously. We attached all possible guilt and wick- 
edness — political at least — to our opponents — and then de- 
tested the hobgoblins which we had ourselves created. 

It is not thus society is constituted. The mass of man- 
kind perhaps of all parties, and in all ages, have meant well^ 
except in very corrupt states of society. And little more is 
necessary to produce harmony between them, than to under- 
stand each other'correcth^ But hostility is excited and per- 
petuated by the intrigues and management of demagogues, 
whose influence and consequence depend on fomenting dis- 
cord, and who would sink into insignificance in times of 
tranquility. Mankind, as I have hinted, hate each other, 
not for real existing difierences^ but for phantoms, the pro- 
duction of heated imaginations. Experience has frequently 
evinced that the very plans of policy which parties out of 
power have reprobated and denounced as pernicious, they 
have pursued themselves as soon as tliey had vanquished 
their opponents, and seized on their places. And I believe 
every man of rejection will acknowledge, that if the federal- 
ists had retained the administration in their hands, they 
would have advocated the rights of their country as firmly 
as their successors have done; and would probablv have 
adopted measures to resist the arrogant and destructive claims 
of England, similar to those, for which they have so strenu- 
ously, though not very honourably or consistently, opposed 
the present administration. 

This is not mere supposition. It is historical f<ict. It 
will be seen in the sequel of this work, that the federalists 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



39 



6ook as high ground on the subject of impressment, and as 
firmly and patriotically resisied the unjust, the daring, the de- 
grading pretensions of England, as Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Mad- 
ison have done. Yet the resistance of the two latter presi- 
de*its has been among the strongest accusations alledged 
against them by their political adversaries. It is impossible 
to reflect on these topics without sighing over human weak- 
ness and folly. Federalism has in these transactions suffer- 
ed a Btain never to be effaced. 



CHAPTER II. 

Errors of the Democratic Party. Federal Constitution, Oppa-^ 
siiion to a Navy, Allien and Sedition Law, Jay^s Treaty, 

In pursuance of my plan, I proceed to a review^ of those 
<*rrors of the democratic partj^ which contributed to produce 
the change in the prospects of this country, and to darken the 
political horizon; and I trust it will appear that I have not 
done them injustice in charging a large portion of the folly 
and guilt to their account. 

Federal Canstitution, 

In the convention that formed the federal constitution, the 
democratic party sowed the seeds of a premature dissolution 
of that instrument, and of the American confederacy. Re- 
garding society more as it ought to be, than as it has ever 
been, or is ever likely to be — led away by theories more 
plausible than solid' — applying to a free elective government, 
deriving all its powers and authorities from the voice of the 
people, rnaxims, and apprehensions, and precautions, calcula- 
ted for the meridian of monarches they directed all their ef- 
forts, and all their views, towards guarding against oppres- 
sion from the federal government. Whatever of authority 
or power, they divested it of, to bestow on the state govern- 
ments, or reserve to the people, was regarded as an impor- 
tant advantage. Against the federal government their fears 
and terrors were wholly directed. This was the horrible 
monster, which they laboured to cripple and chain down, to 
prevent its ravages. The state governments they regarded 
w ith the utmost complacence, as theputlic protectors og'^inst 
this dreadful enemy of liberty. Had they succeeded in ait 
their views, tliey would have deprived the general govern 



4^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



mentof nearly all its efficiency. Alas! little dul Ihey sap- 
pose that our greatest dangers "vvould arise from the usurpa- 
tions of the state governments, some ol which have since 
most awfully and treasonably jeopardised the union. Unfor- 
tunately this party was too successful in the C(»nveniien. 
Its endeavors produced a constitution, which, hov^ever admi- 
rably calculated for a period of peace, hss heen found in- 
competent in war to call forth, at once and decisively, the 
energies of the nation, and tlie administration of which has 
been repeatedly bearded, baffled, and thwarted hy the state 
governments. Had the real federalisls in the convention 
succeeded, and made the general government somewhat more 
energetic — endow ed it with a small degree more of pow er — 
it might endure for centuries. AVhat txte at present awaits it, 
is not in human wisdom to foresee. T fervently prry, with 
the celebrated father Paul, (sto pcrpciua. 

This error of the fkmocratic party arose from a want of due 
regard to the history of republics, and from a pn^found study 
of those political writers who had written under monarchical 
2:overnments, and whose views were whollv directed to 
guard against the danger of tyranny flowing from the over- 
weening regal power, esj^ecially when })0ssessed by men of 
pow erful talents, and great ambition. The theories w hence 
they derived their views of government were splendid and 
sublime — the productions of men of great public spirit, and 
regard for the general welfare and happiness — and, hm] they 
been duly attempered by maxims draw n from experience, 
uould have been of inestimable value. 

Estahlishmcnt of a small Navy. 

The steady and factious opposition made hy the democrat- 
ic party, to the establishment of a small navy, adexjuate at 
Jeast to the protection of our own coasts, has heen proved by 
the event to have been most wretched and miserable policy. 
It arose, as well from a spirit of hostiiitv towards the uarlv m 
power, as from a sordid and contemptible spirit of economy^ 
which has in many instances disgraced and dishonoured this 
party, who have frequently proved themselves, to use a very 
trite but very expressive proverb, " penny wise — pound fool- 
. ish." When we analyse the boasted spirit of economy, to 
ivhich the opposition to a navy may \ye in part ascribed, we 
shall find it arises from two sources ; the one, from men of 
Harrow minds carrying into [>u' lie, the huckstering habits of 
private life. The other, a base srnrit of courting populr'rity 
by husbanding the public treasure, e\ en on occasions v hem 
tiberality is true economy, ^ hich as frequently occiir in pub- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



41 



lie affairs as in private life. Both motives are equally con- 
temptible; but the latter is the more pernicious, and produces 
the most rdinoiis consequences. It starves and smothers pub- 
lic undertakings, and public spirit ; and often defrauds ilius- 
trious men of their due rewards. It is the characteristic vice 
of our times, and of our nation, and ought to be hunted down 
by every man who has a real regard for the honor or interest 
of his country. To this vile spirit we must ascribe the nev- 
er-enoii!>;h- to-be despised debate, whether Eaton, the glorious 
and immortal hero of Derne,^ should be rewarded with a 
sword or a medal ! a debate which brought down on the con- 
gress in w h'Ch it took place, the contempt of every niagnan- 
srajus and liberal mm in the nation; a debate which would 
have disgraced the common council of the most petty bo- 
rough in the union. To this spirit it is due, that votes of 
thanks, and swords, and urns, and other cheap modes of dis- 
pL ying our gratitude, have tranquilized our minds, and de- 
ceiv ed us into the opinion, that we have paid the boundless 
debt due to the Hulls, the Bainbridges, the Decaturs, the Per» 
rys, the Porters, the Macdonoughs, the Joneses, the Ripleys, 
the Browns, the ScoUs, the Coffees, the Carroils^the Macombs, 
the Jacksons, and the other heroes whose glory will live as 
long as public spirit, consummate talents, and bravery com- 
mand the veneration of mankind. 

The modest, the unassuming, the youthful P^rry, rescued a 
whole frontier, men, women, and children, from the murder-* 
ous tomahav k. Macdonough certainly rescued another, and 
prevented the enemy from establishing his winter quarters far 
within our territory. And Jackson has achieved for himself 
and his country immortal honour, by an exploit certainly nev- 
er exceeded, perhaps never equalled. He preserved one of 
the most important keys and emporiums of the country, from 
the power of the enemy, by the most consummate prudence, 
tivlents, and bravery. The interest of the property h^ saved 

* Perhaps my estimate of ^his exploit may be erroneous. I cannot but re- 
gard it as one of the most illustrious events in American military afFeirs by 
land — when all the circumstances of the case are taken into view I never re- 
flect without amazement and admiration ou the heroism of the gallant band^ 
who. under this intrepid chief, pierced through the frightful desart, and shook 
a powerful usurper's throne to the centre. I have always deplored the inaus- 
picious interference that dashed the glorious prize to the earth just E-itoit 
hnd stretched out his hand and was ready to seize it witbo'jt the siria';}e>t dan- 
der of an unfavourable result. The state of iMTassachusetts acquired a high 
degree of honour by its liberality to the warrior of Dej ne, on wiiom i1 bellow- 
ed 10,000 acres of land as a mark of its esteem and admiration. Thif actdf 
generosity, by the contrast, made the miserable conduct of CMk^^ ^Pi^ 
%'x>rthy of additional <:0Dte2iDt, 

' E 



42 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



from depreilation, is probably above S 750,000 per annuri]. 
Yet I doubt \\hether there is gratitude enough in our public 
bodies, who hold the purse strings of the nation, or in the in- 
dividuals whose property has been preserved, to make him 
any adequate return. 1 hope and pray I may be deceived. 
I deprecate being correct in this calculation. But I have 
fearful misgivings on the subject. 

To enable us to form an estimate of tlie immense debt we 
owe our illustrious heroes, it is only necessary to call to recol- 
lection, the prostration of the public mind, and the degrada- 
tion of the national character in the early part of the w ar, 
when our operations on land were " one continued stream" of 
disgraces and disasters ; and when but for the exploits of Hull 
and a few others on the ocean, the name of an Ameiican 
would have been a passport to shame and disgrace. The na- 
tional character was supported throughout the w ar by our lit- 
tle navy, whose exploits may challenge comparison w ith any 
of the most signal acts of heroism recorded in history. And 
on land it was, towards the close nobly retrieved by the he- 
roes whose names I have given, and others who will grace 
their country's annals. And is it possible that congress will 
be base enough not to give some substantial proof of the na- 
tion's gratitude for benefits so far beyond all price ! 

In no instance, hitherto, have congress or the people of ll>e 
United States discharged their dutjMn this respect, or dis- 
played a suitable degree of gratitude. Of votes of thanks they 
have been abundantly liberaJ, These cost nothing, A few 
Bwoi'ds and esedak ioo have be^ awarded. But of all the 
benefactors of their country— those men nho have preserved 
it from the hottomless abysses cf disgrace and dishonmir iMo 
which it 7vas precipitously falling — w ho have given it a rank 
among the nations of tlie earth, I believe there is not one on 
whom the nation has bestowed a rew ard worthy of him or it. 
Who was he that said, " the sin of ingratitude is w orse than 
witchcraft ?" Whoever he w as, honoured be his name. 

The debt due to the illustrious men with whose names I 
have honoured my page, and others, who have trod the same 
path of glory, can hardly ever be discharged, even on the 
ground of mere calculation of benefit to the nation, exclusive 
of the elevation of its character. 

If England, whom in this respect we ought to aspire to em 
ulate, gave 500,000/. sterling to her Wellingtons and Nel- 
sons, let the United States give some solid and substantial 
proof of their gratitude, to their illustrious heroes. I need 
not add, that I d<? not calculate upon such very extravagant 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



re^^ ards as the British parliiiment voted " the great lord " as 
he has been stvled. But the gift ought to be worthy of the 
donor and acceptor ; ought to operate as a rewaid to the mer- 
itorious, and a stimulus to excite others to emulation. 

This is in some degree a digression. But I hope the feel- 
insrs of my readers will be sufficiently in unison with these 
sentiments, not to require any apology. i therefore make 
none. I return to the navy; 

1 feci confident, that the nation has lost one hundred times as 
much through the want of a small navy, as it ^vould have cost. 
Numbers of instances have occurred, of valuable merchant- 
men having been captured by petty pickaroons or pirates, 
Avith one or two guns. Our ports have been insulted and out- 
raged, and the ships and cargoes of our merchants been plun- 
dered by privateers and sloops of war, w hich a few armed ves- 
sels w ould have forced to keep a respectful distance. There 
is none of the points on which the two hostile parties have 
differed, wherein the democrats have been so very far below 
their adversaries in consulting the real, the permanent honoui* 
and interest of the country, as in the establishment of a na- 
val force. The policy of the federalists in this respect wa& 
dignified and honourable; that of the democrats miserably 
contracted. 

J lien and Sedition La ws, and Eight per cent. Loans, 

The factious clamour excited against the sedition and al- 
ien laws, and against the eight per cent, loan — which clamour 
was the principal means of changing the administration, and 
taking it from the hands of the federalists, to place it in those 
of the democrats — ^may be justly reckoned among the sins of 
the latter party. A candid review^ of the so-styled sedition 
law, at the present hour, w hen the public ferment to w hich it 
gave rise has wholly subsided, will satisfy any reasonable 
man, that so fa?- from being an outrageous infringement of 
liberty, as was asserted, it was a measure not merely defensi- 
ble; but absolutely necessary and indispensible towards the 
support of government.* To enable the reader to judge for 
himself, w ithout the trouble of referring to a volume of the 
laws, i annex the<doGument itself. 

* ft is but justice to avow that the writer of tliis book was as ardent in hk 
opposition to, and as much alarmed at the probable consequences of tiie alien 
and sedition laws, as any man in the community. As it requires an extraordi- 
nary degree of corporeal sanity to resist the effect^! of a violent epidemical 
disorder, so it requires great strength of mind to keep out of the vortex of fac^ 
tlous contagion, wheu prevalent with those whose opinions are generally con.- 
geiiial with our own. Of this strength of mind the writer was destitute in coha- 
mon with a large pcrticn Ills ?cilnw eitiz8Q«> - 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



**Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Ptepresectatives of rlic 
United States of America, in Coogress assembled, That if 'anr persons shall 
unlanfully combine or cijiispire together, 7iilh initnt to oppose any measure tr 
measures of the goverumtni qf Xkt CrdUd States. TvJdch arc or shell he directed 
hy proper authority^ or to impede the operation of any Ian of the United Sictes^ 
©r 10 intimidate or prevent any person holding a place or oiTce in or under the 
government of the United States, from undertaking, performing, or executing 
bis trust, or duty ; and if any person, or persons, with intent as aforesaid, shall 
QOunsel, advise or attempt to procure any insurrection, riot, unlawful assembly, 
or combination, whether such conspiracy, threatenir^. counsel, advice or at- 
tempt shall have the proposed effect or Hot, he or they shall be deemed goilty 
of a high misdemeapor ; aed on conviction, before any court of the Vni-ed 
gtates iiaving jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a f.ne not exceeding tive 
ihousand dollars, and by imprisonment curing a term not less than six months, 
5ior exceeding five years ; and further, at the discretion ef the court, may be 
liolden to f;cd sureties for bis or their good behaviciu* in such :um, and for such 
time, as the said court nray direct. 

Sec. 2. And be it furtlier enacted, That if any person shall write, print, 
utter or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, prisited, utJered Oi- 
piih-ished, or shall knowin'/ly and willingly assist c-r aid in v%-jiiiEg, prin^in^, 
uttering or publishiu!: f>^'ny fcdse, .acdndaljus end 77ialicous rcriiing -^r nri- 
Mngs against the govern ^furJ. of the United StaieSy or either house of the Con- 
gress nf the United Si-ties., or the Prendcntcf the United Stuies, with intent to 
defame the said government, or either house of the Congress, ortlie said Pres- 
ident, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt or disrepute j or to 
excite against tliem, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of 
the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States ; or to excite 
2uy uaiawiul combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the 
United States, or any act of tlie president of the United States, done in pursu- 
ance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the constitution r,^ the 
United States ; or to resist, oppose, or defeat any such law or act ; or to 
aid, encsurage, or abet any hostile desigiu of any foreign no.H.-n agnm - the 
United States, their people or government., then such person, bving thereor con- 
victed before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall 
be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprison- 
ment not exceeding two years. 

Sec, 3. And he it further enacted and declared, That if any^ person sbaM 
be prosecuted under this act, for writing or publishing any libel as aforesaid, 
rrp shall be Urful for the defendant, upon the trial of the cause, to give iji 
evidence, in his defence, the truth of the matter contained in the publicaiion 
charged as a libel. And the jury who shall try the cause, shall have a right 
to determine the law and the fact, under the direction of the court, as in other 
€ases. 

*' Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That this act shall continue and be in 
force until the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and on€. ai d 
no loncrer : Provided, that the expiration of the act shall not prevent or defeat 
a prosecution and punishment of any offence against the law, during the time 
U shall be in force.'* 
July, 1793. 

The fate of this law holds out an all-iraportant lesson ou 
faction and party spirit. Laudable and necessary as it was, 
and guarded, as'^far as a law can be guarded, against abuse, 
the opposition to it was as violent, and it excited as much 
horror and indignation, as if it had wholly destroyed the lib- 
erty of the press, and " left not a trace heliind:' And in this 
senseksg and disgraceful ch.'mour, were engaged vastniimber? 



THE OLH E BRANCHc 



of the best and most intelligent members of the community. 
The Alien and Sedition Laws were made the subject of an 
elegant, but violent and inflammatory report, agreed to by the 
legishiture of Virginia, as respectable and enlightened a de- 
liberative body as any in the United States, or perhaps in the 
world. But they w ere bitten by the mad dog of faction in 
common w^ith so large a portion of their- fellow-citizens, and 
\?ere seized with the prevalent disorder. They regarded the 
two obnoxious law s as inroads upon public liberty, which re- 
quired to be repelled with the utmost firmness. 

It would be uncandid not to state, that the trials under this 
net, for libels against the president, and, as far as my recol- 
lection serves me, against some of the other public function- 
aries, were managed with very considerable rigour; and, from 
the abuse of the law, tended to give an appearance of propri- 
ety and justice to the clamour against it. The case of Thom- 
as Cooper and Matthew Lyon, Esqrs. who w ere both treated 
with remarkable severity, excited a high degree of sympathy 
la the public mind. I have strong doubts, w hether, under all 
the circumstances, a jur}^ could be found in London to pro* 
liounce a verdict of " guilty" against either of them. Of the 
tw o cases, it may be justly said — summumjus, summa injuria^ 
But the censure did not attach to the law. It lay at the door 
of the juries. 

I liave little to offer respecting the alien law. It was un« 
doubtedly liable to strong objections. It invested the presi- 
dent with powers liable to great abuse. But it certainly nev- 
er w^arranted the awful outcry that was raised against it. To 
enable the reader, however, to form his own opinion^ — and, if 
mine be erroneous, to reject it altogether, I annex the most 
obnoiious clause of the act. 

Sec. I. Be it enacted hy the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. That it shall be lawful for thd 
President of the Unit<^d States, at any time during the continuance of thi? act, 
to order all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to tlie peace and safety of 
the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned 
m any treasonable or secret machinations against the gevernment thereof, ta 
depart out of the territory of the United States, within such time as shall be 
expressed in such order ; which order shall be served on such alien by deliv- 
ering him a copy thereof, or leaving the same at his usual abode, and return- 
ed to the office of the secretary of state, by the marshall or other person to 
•whom the same shall be directed. And in case any alien so ordered to depart, 
shall be found at large within the United States after the time limited in such 
order for his departure, and cot having obtained a license from the president 
to reside therein, or having obtained such license shall not have conformed 
thereto, erery such alien shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned for a term - 
not exceeding three years, and shall never after be admitted to become a citi-* 
2en of the U. States Provided always, and he it further enacted, That if any 
^en 80 ordered to depart, shall prove to the satisfaction of *the president, b"^- 

E % 



46 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



evidence to be taken before such person or pennons as the president shall d»^' 
rect^ \f ho are for that purpose hereby authorized to admiuistf r oatlis, that ny 
injury or danger to t?ie United States will ari^e from sufTcrin^ such alien to 
reside therein, the prel^ideDt may grant a license to such alien to remain with- 
in the Unitf-d States, for such time as he shall judge proper, and at sucli place 
as lie may designate. And the president may a' so require of such alien to en- 
ter into a boiid to the United States, in such penal sum as he may direct, with 
one or more sufficient sureties to tlie satisfaction of the person authorized by 
the president to take the same, conditioned for the good behaviour of sucti al- 
ien during his residence in the United States, and not violating his license ; 
vphich license the president may r-evoke, whenever he shall think proper." 
July 6, 1798. • 

The eight per cent, loan remains. It was united ilh, and 
increased the clamour against, the alien and sedition laws ; 
and these obnoxious measures, as I have already observed, 
precipitated the federalists from power. Yet we have since 
found that their successors, the democrats, have themselve?; 
given about eight per cent, on their loans. This would af- 
lord a glorious triumph to federalism over her inveterate rival, 
democracv, were it not that the annals of the former can fur- 
nish many instances of similar frailty, and inconsistency, and 
departure from professions. And It is a nielancholly truth, 
that the histories of all the parties and factions that have, 
since government was first instituted, cursed and scourged 
mankind by their senseless, envenomed, and implacable hos- 
tilities, are replete with instances of errors equally disgrace- 
and dishonourable. A history of the madness, the folly, 
and the depravity of party and faction, is a grand desidera- 
Sim. 

Jai/s Trerjiy. 

The violent opposition to this instrument, w hich pervaded 
ihe union, and greatly disturbed the administration of Gener- 
al Washington, was a highly factious procedure on the part 
t^f the democrats, who were led away by objections, plausible, 
but not substantial — hardly any of which have been realised. 
This affair evinces the danger of yielding to the sudden im- 
pulses of national feeling, which bear down every thing be- 
ibre them, and which wholly overpower the reason and un- 
derstanding of even the w ise and the good, who on such oc- 
casions, are onlv on a level with the most uninformed and 
uncultivated part of tlie community. Nearly all the predic- 
tions respecting this treaty have been the sooth-sayings ©f 
felfe prophets; of men, some led astray by their prejudices — 
others by perturbed imaginations. Such of tliem as have been 
Idealised, have been more than counterbalanced by the solid 
advantages resulting from the adjustment §f the differences 
1t)etween the two uatioxag. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



4-7 



CHAPTER III. 

Monroe and Pinkiiey's Treaty with England. Separation of 
the Staies. Treasonable Fublications, Embargo, Nonin- 
tercourse. 

Of the errors of Mr. JeSerson's adiniaistration, it is unne- 
cessary to mention more tlian three, deno«ing two very or> 
posite extremes of character — the one highly bokl'and daring 
—the other displaying an eqnal degree of feebleness. 

Monroe andPinknerfs Treaty with England, 

Two ministers appointed by Mr. JeSerson, had negociated 
a treaty with England, the best they could procure. It had 
been transmitted to him in due form. Without consulting the 
co-ordinate branch of the treaty-making power, he, on hig 
own responsibility, rejected it, and transmitted to these min- 
isters instructions to begin the negociation anew\ This w^as 
a mighty and a fatal error.* It may be doubted whether it 
v. ere not a violation, at least of the spirit of the constitution. 
It was at all events a case that probably did not enter into 
the conceptions of the framers of that instrument. If it had, 
it is likely they would have provided against its occurrence- 

A calm reflection on this subject can hardly fail to convince 
the reader that probably to this source may be fairly traced 
nearly all our preseat difficulties. HliI this treaty been, as 
k ought, laid before the senate, they would in all likelihood 
have ratified the chief parts of it, and, as had been the case 
l^'i^h Jay's treaty, have referred the obnoxious clauses to a 
new discussion. Our disputes with England would havb been 
thus compromised — and our party divisions could never have 
been excited to such a height as to endanger the peace and 
security of the country. 

It has been inferred from the rejection of this treaty, that 
it arose from Mr. Jefferson's desire of a cause of war with 
England. This is radically wrong. At no period since the 
commencement of the French revolution has there been a 
deficiency of a real cause of war with England, in the impress- 
ment of our seamen, and the violent proceedings against our 
commerce. But a pregnant proof of the fallacy of this charge 

i 

* It has been attempted to justify Ihis procedure, \)y the eircumstance, thai 
t3ie negociators had violated one explicit item of Mr. Jefferson^s instructions-? , 
to conclude no treaty without a specific article guarding against imprsssmeats*' 
Ti^s is DO justiScation* It Is barely apaiiiatioE., 



48 



THE OLIVE branch: 



arises out of tYie attack of the Leopard on the Chesapeakco 
This circumstance settles the question forever. Had Mr. 
Jeiferson been desirous of \var with England, nothing more 
was necessary than vo hcive convened congress immediately 
after that event, during the extraordinary ebuilition of the 
public miiid which it created. AH parties were then clam- 
orous for, and would have heartily united in a war. And war 
would certainly have been declared by congress almost unan- 
imously.. But w ith a desire of peace, deserving of the high- 
est praise and gratitude of his country, w hich he has never re- 
ceived, he deferred the convening of congress about four 
months, within which period the public ferment had subsided. 
This important fact has been wholly overlooked in the fac- 
tious discussions that have taken place respecting his admin- 
istration; so true it is, that in times of turbulence, reason rai- 
ses her voice in vain. It is drowned in the obstreperous 
brawiings of noisy factionists. 

The justice which leads to this vindication, compels me 
unqualifiedly to censure the very extraordinary and unpre- 
cedented measure of rejecting the treaty on his own responsi- 
bilitv. 

Besides the want of an explicit clause on the sul»ject of im- 
pressment, the friends of Mr. .TefFerson assign another plea to 
justify him for the rejection of this treaty. After it was 
agreed to by both parties, there was a rider annexed to it hy 
the British commissioners, which w as calculated to give the 
treaty-sanction to the celebrated orders in council, which, 
even then, it w ould appear, w ere in contemplation. 

T J enable the reader to decide correctly, I annex the rider. 

NOTE 

Of the Briiish Co?7i?m3sioners, accompanying Monroe and- 

Piiickney's Treaty, 

London, Dec. Sf, 1806. 
♦* The undersigned, Henry Richard Vassal, lord Holland, and William lord" 
Auckland, plenipotentiaries of his Britannic majesty, have the honor to inform 
James Monroe and William Pinkuey, commissioners extraordinary and pleni- 
potentiaries of the United States of America, that they are now ready to pro- 
ceed to the signature of the treaty of amity^coinmerce, and navigation, on the 
articles of which they have mutually agreed. 

But at the game time they have it in command from his majesty, to call the 
attention of the commissioners of the United States, to some extraordmary 
proceedings which have lately taken place on the continent of Europe, and to 
communicate to them officially the sentiments of his inajesty's government 
thereupon. 

" The proceediogi? alluded to are certain declarations and orders of 
French ^overament issued at Berlin, oc the 21 st oi November last 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



49 



^' la those orders, the French government seeks to justify or palliate its own 
uojust pretensions, by imputing to Great Britain principles, uiiich she never 
professed, and practices which never existed. His majesty is r.ccu?ed of a sys- 
tematic and general disregard of the law of nations, reccgniz€d by civilized 
states, and more particularly of an unwarrantable extension of the right of 
blockade. Whereas his m/ijesty 'may covjidcntly appeal to the world on hh 
uniform respect to neutral rights^ and his general and scrupv.lo'us adherence 
to tke laiv of nations, without condescending to contrast his conduct in these 
particulars with that of his enemy : and with regard to the only specified charge, 
it is netonoiis that he has never declared any ports to be in a state cf blockudey 
nithout alMiing lo that object a force sufficient to make the enirance into iheni 
manfestly dangerous 

By such allegations, unfounded as they are, the enemy attempts to justify 
his pretensions of confiscating as lawful prize, all produce of English industry 
or manufacture, though it be the property of neutrals ; of excluding from his 
harbours every neutral vessel, whicli has touched at any port of his majesty's 
dominions, though employed in an innocent commerce ; and of declaring Great 
Britain to be in a state of blockade; though his own naval ports and arsenals 
are actually blockaded ! and he is unable to station any naval force whatever, 
beforeany port of the united kingdom. 

Sucii principles are in themselves extravagant and repugnant to the law 
of nations ; and the pretensions founded on them, though professedly directed 
solely against Great Britain, tend to alter the practice of war among civilized 
Jiations, and utterly to subvert the rights and independence of neutral poivers. 
The undersigned cannot, therefore, believe that the enemy will ever seriously 
attempt to enforce such a system. If lie should, they are confident that the 
good sense ©f the \merican government will perceive the fatal consequences of 
such pretensions to neutral commerce ; and that its spirit and regard to nation- 
al honour will prevent its acquiescence in such palpable violations of its rights 
and injurious encroachments on its interests. 

*' If, however, the enemy should carry these threats into execution ; and if 
neutral nations, contrary to all expectations, should acquiesce in such usurpa- 
tions ; bis majesty might probably be compelled, however reluctantly, to re- 
taliate in his just defence, and to adopt, in regard to the commerce of neutral 
nations with his enemies, the same measures which those nations shall have 
permitted to be enforced against their commerce with his subjects. The com- 
missioners of the United States will therefore feel, that at a moment whed his 
■mijesfy and all neutral nations are threatened yvith such an extension cf the belli- 
gerent pretensions of his enemies, he cannot enter into the siipulatious of the 
present treaty, without explanation from the United States of their intentions, 
or a reservation on the part of his majetty in the case above mentioned, if it 
should ever occur. 

The undersigned, considering that the distance of the American govern- 
ment, renders any immediate explanation on this subject impossible, and anima- 
ted by a desire of forwarding the beneficial work in which they are engaged, 
are authorized by his majesty to conclude the treaty without delay. Thev 
proceed to the signature under the full persuasion that before the treaty shall 
be returned from America with the ratification of the United States, the ene- 
my will either have formally abandoned or tacitly relinquished his unjust pre- 
tensions J or that the government of the United States, by its conduct or as- 
surances, will have given security lo his majesty that it will not submit to such 
innovations in the established system of maritime law ; and the undersigned 
have presented this note from an anxious wish that it should be clearly under- 
stood on both sides, that without snch an abandonment on the part of the eDe- 
my, or such conduct on the part of th^ United States, HIS M ^JESTY WILL 
NOT CONSIDER HIMSELF ^OUND, BY THE PRESENT SIGNA- 
TURE OF HIS COMMISSIONERS. TO RATIFY THI?^ TREATY, 
OR PRECLUDED FROM ADorTlNG SUCH MEASURES \S MAY 
SEEM NECESSARY FOR COUNTERACTING THE DESIGNS QF 
HIS ENEMY. 



50 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



" The underfiigred cannot conclude, without expressing their satis faction on 
the pro?f ect of accomplishing an object so important to tlie interests and friend- 
ly connection of both nations, and their just sense of the conciliatory disposi- 
tion, HTianifested by the commissioners of the United States, during the whole 
course of the negoclation. 

{Signed) 

VASSAL HOLLA^'Df 
AUKLAND. 

To James MOnhoe, c^^. &c. &c. 

WiLLI/.M FlNXX£Y, &C. ^CC. 6iC. 

However exceptionable the terms of this note may be, T can- 
not persuade myself that it justifies the rejection of the trea- 
iy without consulting the senate. Men of powerful minds de- 
fend the procedure. Their arguments have never convinced 
me. To the readers's judgment I submit the subject. 

Separation of the States, 

The next error of Mr. Jefferson's admiuistration, involves 
a very great neglect of duty. During nearly the whole of 
that period, the insurrectional and treasonable doctrine of a 
separation of the states, was publicly advocated in some of the 
gazettes to the eastward, and, wonderful and shameful to tell, 
preached from the pulpit. These publications and sermons, 
having a direct tendency to the destruction of social order, 
and the introduction of civil war, demanded the severe ani» 
madversion of the law officers of the government. It was the 
incumbent duty of the President to have had the laws put in 
force, to repress the offences, and to punish the offenders. 
And if there were no law to reach the offence, he ought to 
have submitted the case to congress, for the purpose of sup- 
plying the defect. A re-enactment and enforcement of the 
sedition law were imperiously required. And the good sense, 
of the nation would have supported a measure which the ;)ub- 
lic welfare rendered so necessary. It may be fairly averred 
that there is no country in the world but the United States, 
in which an open attempt to subvert the government, and tear 
down the j)ii!ars of society, would have escaped condign pun- 
ishment. Every society ought; to possess within itself, and 
to exercise whenever oc43asion calls for it, tfce fundamental 
principle of self-preservation. 

It is impossible to censure too highly the error here ad- 
verted to. The jeopardy in which the nation w as lately pla- 
ced, when the nearest and dearest interests were in the mosL 
imminent danger, may be fairly ascribed to this most fatal ami 
pernicious misconduct. In every science there are some 
great, leading truths which cannot be controverted. And 
fa political economy there is no maxim more indulitable tham 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



this, that [XT'trcason never ivas, and never will he — andintmth 
hardhj can he propitiated hy forhcarance. Since the world 
was (brined never did a conspiracy meet with the same de- 
gree of impunity. " Our Palinuriis slept at the hehn." The 
mutineers had full scope for their activity. They made 
their arrangements at leisure, as undisturbedly as if they were 
engaged in promoting the salvation of the state. To what- 
ever cause this neglect ma}^ be ascribed, whether to torpor, 
inactivity, or reliance on the good sense of the nation, it casts 
an indelible stain on the adminisfVation of Mr. Jetferson. 

The last of the errors of that ail ministration which I shall 
notice, arises from its neglect of enforcing, 

The Emhargo^ 

Which was a most etficient weapon for procuring redress 
from England. Its effects upon her colonies by privations of 
the necessaries of life — and upon her trade and naval power, 
by withholding supplies of raw materials and naval stores, 
were very considerable. And had it been duly enforced, as 
the duty of the chief m:igistrate required, it could hardly have 
f^iiled to impel the British to relinquish those pretensions, 
w hich so highly and perniciously infringed our rights. But 
it was openly and flagitiously violated: and of course its in- 
tended operation on England utterly counteracted. It be- 
came a mere hrutmnfidmcn. Its effects on this country were 
highly pernicious. While it curtailed the trade and [)rofitss 
of the fair trader, it enabled smugglers, and those who set the 
laws of their country at defiance — whose god was gain, to 
make rapid and unhallowed fortunes. In a word, it sacrificed 
the interests of some of the best, to those of the very worst 
members of the community. In proportion as a citizen held 
the laws sacred — in proportion as he honestly yielded them 
obedience — in the same proportion did he sacrifice his inter- 
ests. And by this political arithmetic, in proportion as he 
disregarded the law — in proportion as he sacrificed the pub- 
lic interest to his thirst of gain — in the same proportion did 
he aggrandize himself. The export trade, which was frau- 
dulently carried on to a considerable extent, was wholly in 
the hands of jiersons of the latter description. Their vessels, 
laden with abundant supplies for the British colonies, were 
very conveniently driven to sea by westerly winds, and fore* 
ed into the West Indies. 

It has been said, in vindlcatian of Mr. Jetferson, that he 
liad not sufficient power to enforce the execution of the law^ 
This i§ uUerly incorrect. His powers were amply adequate 



THE OLIVE BRANfJH. 



for this purpose. But even if this defence were valid, it ex- 
onerates him not from the high degree of censure aiiached to 
this dereliction of duty. He ought, in that case, to have sta- 
ted she defect to congress, who had the povyer of apjjiying, 
and undoubtedly at his requisition would have applied a rem- 
edy. 

Besides the non-euforcement of the embargo act, there was 
a radical error committed by the goveniraent in couiinsjing 
it so long. I's inadequacy to efleet the iJiu^'iOse its ff ienils h;td 
coniemplated, was fully established. And, failing ibar, i sf f- 
feci was to punish ourselves for the lawless jiioceedings of 
others. It ought to have been consldeied principally as a 
preparation fo> war. 

The measure subsaluted for the embargo, that is, the non- 
intercourse with both belligerents, has be*?n generally rega d- 
ded by the democrats as a feeble one : and the (en h congress, 
which m ide Jhe change, has been on that ground stigmatized 
by them almost universally, as imbecile and coniemr/al le. 
This is a most egregious error. It is inconceivable how it 
could have found such general credence. The non-inler- 
couise law was as bold, as manly, and as energetic a measure 
as the annals of Christendom can produce for a c^^n'ury. An 
infant nation, with five or six frigates, 8nd a number of gun- 
boats, forbids the entrance into her ports, under penalty of 
confiscation, to the vessels of the two most powerful nations in 
the world; the one absolute by land — the other by sea, and 
owning a thousand vessels of war ! and this is, forsooth, a 
measure dictated by imbecility ! The human mind can hard- 
ly conceive a greater instance of folly. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Bank of the United States. Miser ahle policy not to renew the 

Charter, 

Among the great sins of the democratic psrty, must be 
numbered the non-renewal of the charter of «he Bank of the 
United States. This circumstance injuriously aflected the 
credit and character of this country abroad — produced a great 
degree of stagnation, distress, and difficulty ai home — and 
was among the causes of the late emba? n ssments and difficul- 
ties of the pecuniary concerns of the country. Had this bank 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



53 



been in existence, its capita] might readily at any time Iiav^ 
been increased by Congress, ten, t^^enty, thirty, or forty 
millions, so as to aid the government most effectually, and 
support the national credit. 

To the renewal of the charter there were various objectioniJ 
OiTered, on the ground of inexpediency : but these had not much 
influence — nor were they entertained by many of the members. 
The grand difficulty arose from the idea so steadily maintained 
hy most of the democratic party, that the constitution imparted 
no power to grant charters of incorporation. Many of the mem- 
bers who on this ground voted in the negative, most unequivo- 
cally admitted the expediency of the renewal of the charter. 

This constitutional objection was obviated, it would appear^ 
unanswerably. All the departments of the government, legis- 
lative, executive and judiciary, had recognized the institution, 
at various times during the twenty years of its existence. 

[tJ^The courts of different states, and of the United States^ had 
^stained various suits brought hy the bajik in its corporate capacity ; 
by which, so far as depended upon the judiciary, it had had the 
seal of constitutionality stamped on it. This was a very serious, 
important, and decisive circumstance. 

In addition to this, a democratic legislature of the United 
States had given it a most solemn sanction. In March, 1804, 
an act had passed to authorise the institution to establish 
branches in the territories of the United States, which power 
was not embraced by tjae original charter. n;/^ This act was 
passed without a diirision, when nearly all the viemhers were present. 
No constitutional objection could have been then suggested ; 
for such members as believed the measure unconstitutional, 
would indubitably have called for the yeas and nays, in order 
to record their dissent. 

The act was signed by Nathaniel Macon, speaker of the 
house of representatives ; Jesse Franklin, president of the senatej 
and Thomas Jefferson, president of the United States. 

These cases, with others which might be cited, produced this 
dilemma. They either, as I have stated, afforded a complete 
recognition of the constitutionality of the charter, or a gross, 
palpable violation of the constitution, by the three several grand 
departments of the government. 

I presume it cannot be doubted, that if a charter of incorpo- 
ration be unconstituHonal, every extension '>f the powers^ of the 
c6n>orate body must be equally unconstitutional — perhaps I 
might go so far as to assert that every act recognizing the 
charter is in the same predicament. But it is not necessary 
for n^y purpose to proceted thus far. 

F 



54 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



It therefore irresistibly follows that every member of congress 
who voted for the act of March 1804, and afterwards voted 
asiainst a renewal of the charter, merely on the grounds of 
unconstitutionality, ^Yas guilty of a manifest, if not a criminal 
inconsistency.^ 

A circumstance connected with this transaction, rendered 
the impropriety of the rejection of the application of the bank 
for a renewal of its charter, still more striking and palpable. 
The government till the year 1802 held 2200 shares of tlie 
stock, which they sold to Sir Francis Baring at 45 [>er cent, 
advance, whereby they made a clear profit of $399,600 beyond 
the par value. Those who ])urchased of Mr. Baring, and held 
the stock tin the dissolution of the bank, lost all this sum, 
exclusive cf a considerable difference between the dividends 
and legal interest on the purchase money. They could never 
liave entertained any doubt of the continuance of Ibe charter. 
They must have conceived it to be as jjermanent as that of the 
bank of England. Had they supposed otherwise, they would 
not have bought at so great an advance. And it would not be 
easy to satisfy the candid and inijiartial, that our government 
could with propriety or justice, make such |>ront out of their 
Ignorance and their confidence in its integrity ^nd fcurness. 



CHAPTER V. 

Armisiice -proposed by Admiral JVdrrau 

The next of the errors of Mr. Madison's administration, that 
I notice, is the refusal of the armistice offered by admiral Warren, 
on the 12th of September, 181 2, nearly three months after the 
declo mtion of w ar. 

Never^ probably, was w ar more just. Never had a country 
irore patiently t^rne the most humiliating accumulation of 
outrage and injury than the United States had done. Her char- 
acter had in consequence fallen in the estimation cf mankind. 
She \vas universally presumed to he so lost in the sordid pursuit 
of gain, as to be callous to outrage^ to insult, and to contumely, 
^he had appeared to have forfeited all regard to national honor 
and dignity. Her mendicant ambassadors had been, for years, 
in vain 5uing for justice and forbearance at the portals of St* 

* For further details on this subject, the reader is referred to " Seven letter; 
ib Dr. Seybert «n the reuer^al of the charter of the Baaji of thei United States/' 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



James' palace. The pusillaDimity of tlie government had 
become a subject of reproach to the federalists- — of shame to the 
democrats. And it was a bye word among the opposers of the^ 
administration, that it " could not be kicked into a war." This^ 
genteel expression w^as used in congress by Mr. Josiah Quineey, 
and was quite common out of doors. — It is impossible to forget 
the torrents of reproaches heaped upon the cabinet at Washing- 
ton, on this ground. The pusillanimity and cowardice of the 
federal administration furnished an inexhaustible fund of rhetor^ 
ical emheiiishments to tlow ery speeches innumerable. 

The declaration of w ar w as therefore really as just as any 
similar document from the days of Nimrod. The expediency 
of it was, however, not equally clear. The risk was immense. 
It w^as putting to hazard the vital interests of eight millions oi 
people, on the very uncertain chances of war. Yet I do not 
pretend to decide tlie question of expediency in ihe negative : 
for let it be observed, that every argument against this w^ai% 
would apply with nearly equal force against resistance to any 
degree of insult, outrage and injury from England ; as the chief 
arguments against its expediency, are predicated upon the 
immense naval force of that nation, and her consequent means 
of inflicting incalculable injury upon the United States; and 
whatever cogency there may be in these arguments, would 
equally exist let the injuries sustained be what they might. 

But w hatever might ba tbejustice, necessity, or policy of the^ 
w^ar, it was a great error, when the orders in council were 
repealed, and an armistice offered by the British government, 
not to accept it. Negociations for the removal of the rest of 
our grievances might have taken place; and would undoubtedly 
have been conducted under more favorabble auspices, than 
those that preceded them; for England having discovered that 
she had calculated too far on our passiveness, would have been 
far more disposed to do us justice. 

Unfortunately the proposition was rejected — a rejection preg- 
nant with most injurious consequences to us and our posterity.^ 

^ Candor and justice to Mr. Madison require that I should state that heofFerecl 
to agree to an armistice witii Sir John Borlase Warren, on condition that the 
practice of iniprefFment sl]0uld be Fuspended during the negociation. From 
the letter of the Secretary of State to Sir John on this subject, I annex an ex^ 
tract — 

The claim of the British governKient U to take from the merchant vessels <tf 
other countries, British subjects. In tiie practice the commanders of the British 
ships of vidiV often take from the merchant vessels of the United States, Americao 
Citizens. ^^^If the United States pj'ckibit Ike employment of British subjects m 
tkiir service^ arid enforce the prohibition by suitable regulations and penalties, the 
mfdive io the practice is taken away. Q^lt is in this mode tliat tlie President i% 
Tviilin^ to accommodate this important controversy with the British government i 
asidit cajisot be conceived on what ground the arrangement can be refused. 



56 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

When the preceding article ^vas v. rltien, I had not siifficienlTjr 
examined the celebrated repeal, as it is styled, of the oniers in 
council, which is very different indeed, from v. hat I h id con- 
ceived it. It is liable to strong objections, which 1 believe 
bave never been fully stated, and of which the public are not 
probably aware. To enable the reader to comprehend my 
meaning, and to form his own opinion correctly on a point of 
^ueh great magnitude, independent of any impression to be 

A suspension of the practice of impressment, pendlr:«r the armistice, seeras to 
l>e a Tiecessary consequence. It cannot be presumed, while the piirlles are C'Dgi;red 
ill a negociation to adjust amicably this important ditference, that t'lie United 
Stales would admit tiie rip:ht, or acquiesce in the practics*, of tiie opposite party ^ 
or that Great Britain would be unwilling to restrain her cruisers from a pracLice 
which would have the strongest tendency to defeat ti)e negociation. It is pre- 
sumable, that both parties would enter into the negociation with a. sincere desire 
to give it effect. For this pu- pose it is neces-ary that a clear and dis inct 
understanding be first obiai'ied between them, of tiie accommodation which each 
is prepared to make rj^J=> If the Btiiish governrneni is nilling io siutpend the 
jrraciict cj' impre'^snim'f -ra Aintrican veiseU. on cj7isidcrali:m that ike Uiiilcd 
States 7vill exclude British seamen from fhclr service, the reguhtions by ivhich the 
compromise should he carried int-) f^tr^, wuvXd be sddy the object nf jiegfciation* 
The armistice would be of sliort duration. If the parties agreed, peace would be 
llie result. If the uegociatlon failed, each wou'd be restored to its former state, 
and to all its pretensions by recurring to war. 

The President desires that the war which exists between the two countries 
should be terminated on such conditions as may secure a solid and durable peace. 
To accomplish this great object, it is necessary that tiie great subject of impiTss- 
ment, be satisfactorily arranged, He is n-illing that Great Britain should be 

secured agaiiist the evils of which sue ajmphins. He seeks, on the other hand, 
that the citizens of the United States should be protected against a practice, which, 
rj^rhile it degrades the nciion. deprives them cf their rights as /'-ee/nen, t'lkts 
tfiern by force from their families and cjuntry intj a foreign service, tojight the 
battles of a foreign pjjver, perhaps agai^ist their orcn kindred end CDuntry.^''^ 
These proposals were perfectly fair and honorable — and it is to be lansented tiiat . 
Sir J. B. W'arren^s powers were not extensive enough to allow liira to accept 
them : but as they w> "3 not thus extensive, it is equally to be lamented that the 
suspension of impressmeat was insisted on. 

As this is a most important feature in our public proceedings, it is proper to 
state further, that so sincerely desirous was Mr IMddison to close the bi eacli, 
that on the 26tli of June 18 12, only eight days after the declaration of war, he 
authorised Mr. Ru^selto make the same proposition to the government of Great 
Britain. The communication wag made to lord Castlereagh by Mr. Russel, in 
the following words ; 

London, August 2ilh, 1812. 

** As an inducement to Great Britain, to discontinue the practice of impressment 
frem American vessels, I am authorised to give assurance, that a law shall be 
passed (to be reciprocal) to prohibit the employment of British seamen, in the 
public or commercial service of the United States. 

It is sincerely believed, that such an arrangement would prove more eUica- 
suous in securing to Great Britain her seamen, than the practice of impressmenti 
so derogatory to the sovereign attributes of the United States, and soinccHUpatib^p 
with the personal rights of her citizens." 

This proposition wa^ rejected. 

* Message of the President to Congress, Nov. 4, 13l-2i 



I 



THE OLIVE feRANCH. 57 

liiaue by my statemenf, I annex the paragraph of the instra- 
ment to which I aUnde, and which I am confident never was 
generally understood or attended to. 

" Uis royal highness is hereby pleased to declare, in the name and on the behalf 
of his majesty, that nothing in this present order contained shall be understood 
to preclude his royal highness the prince recent, IF CIRCUMSTArvGES 
SHALL SO REQUIRE,^' [mark thesjMvordsf reader— ^/aVcwmslaTices *AaZ^ 
so requirey^^] frmn restoring, rfter reasonvMe miice, ike order of the 1th of 
January, J 807, and 2Qth of April, 1809, or any part thereof to their full effect ; 
OR, from taking such other measures of retaliation against the enemy, as may 
appear to his royal highness to be just and necessary.'* 

This is a most extraordinary clause. The prince regent 
has received an authenticated document, containing the repeal 
of the Berlin and Milan decrees, on which he deems himself 
bound to repeal fne orders in council. But in the instrument 
which he issues on the subject, he expressly reserves the right 
of restoring those ovders, if circu77istanc€s shall so require^*' 
Oil these ^' circiniistances ^ he, of course, is to decide, These 
''circumstances'' are wholly independent of '^retaliation''^ — as 
provision is made in the subsequent part of the paragraph ex- 
pressly for retaliation ^ in ?i distinct clause. It therefore 
appears that the orders in council w^ere, in strict technical lan- 
guage, never i^epeaUcL Tliey \\ ere merely suspended iiW CU'- 
cunistauces should require" their revival. 

No candid reader w ill deny that the above is fair reasoning* 
This, therefore, cannot be regarded as a "re/>eaZ," in the sense 
in which this nation had a right to expect the orders in council 
to be " /Y/z^aZ^'^" according to the British pledge, to proceed 
pari passu with the repeal of the French decrees. The orders 
in council might have been restored'^ in one month, after the 
date of this instrument, according to its tenor, " if circumstances 
should have so required^'' without our government having anjr 
just reason to complain of breach of faith on the part of that of 
Great Britain. There never w^s a public document more cau- 
tiously worded. And had it arrived here previous to thedeclar- 
( 1^ ation of war, this country would have been perfectly warranted 
in refusing to regard it as a repeal. To meet and to fulfil the 
idea held out in the previous pledges of the British governments^ 
the repeal ought to have been unconditional, except the reser- 
vation of a right to renew the orders in council in the one spe* 
sific case of the revival of the French decree*. 

It is a remarkable fact respecting this repeal, that in the de-^ 
bates upon it in the British parliament, the mighty wrongs in- ^ 
flicted by the orders in council upon this country formed hardly 
any part of the reasons whereon the adoption of the mea&ur^ 
^^as urged^ Eveu Mr* Brougham, the powerful oppoijeBt 



THB OLIVE BRANCH. 



the orders, and the mover of the address for their " repeat,^ 
founded his arguments in his published speech, wholly on the 
injurious effects experienced in England by the loss of our trade* 
It is true, he once glances at the injustice of the orders, but it 
is very slightly and merely incidentally. He does not boldly 
and magnanimously expose them to reprobation on the ground 
of the violation of our rights, as Mr. Baring had done in his 
celebrated pamphlet. 

But U:j=^as the president admitted the instrument to he a repeal^ 
it was, I repeat, to be deeply regretted, that he did not accept 
the armistice, and trust to subsequent negociation for redress 
on the subject of impressment. His admission of it in that 
point of light, precluded him from employing the solid objection 
to which it was liable* 



CHAPTER VL 

AppGintment of Mr, Gallatin as Minister to treat with Great 
Britain, Negociation at Goitenburgh, . Recent neglect of dn£ 
preparations . 

The appointment of Mr. Gallatin as minister to treat with 
♦he court of St. James, was a very considerable error. This 
gentleman has had the reputation, probably with justice, of being 
-mne of the ablest financiers in this country. For tv;elve years, 
he had pres^ided over the financial concerns of the nation, 
during which period, moderate talents were adequate to the 
duties of that station. But a crisis had arrived when the 
abilities of a Colbert, or a Sully, or a Ximenes, might be 
necessary ; and most injudiciously and indefensibly he was then 
despatched to another hemisphere ; and the duties cf his de- 
volved ad interim on another officer, whose proper official duties 
require all his time and all his talents. 

This measure was highly preposterous. It was incorrect 
in the President to confer— it was equalJy incorrect in the 
secretary to receive, the appointment. It was the less 
defensible, from the circumstance, that nearly all the demO" 
crats in the United States had, in 1794, utterly disapprov- 
ed of, and declaimed against, the appointment, by General 
Washington, of Judge Jay, to negociate a treaty with Great 
Britain, pending his continuance as a judge. It is moreover 
obvious, that the absence of one judge cannot produce any ma= 
terial incojsveGience 5 as there ^tre always others to supply hif 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. ^3 

place. Bat there are high and responsible duties attached to 
ihe office of secretary of the treasury, which can never, T^ith- 
oat very great im;)ropriety, be devolved on a deputy. I pass 
over ail but tlie transcendent one of remitting fines an(\ forfeit- 
ures, too high a power probably to be trusted to any individual 
whatever, not excepting even a secretary liin^.'self.''' 

Negcciaticn at Golicnburg.. 

At a period Avhen it was of immense im[)ortanee to the Unt- 
ied States to close the war as speedily as possible, the president 
had the alternative of London or Gottenburgh as the scene of 
negociation. V7e had been unfortunate by land, through trea- 
oon, incapacity, or some other cause. It ^^as our interest to 
acceJerate — it was that of the British to procrastinate the ne- 
gociations. The chances from delay were much in their 
favor. War i^, moreover, a component part of their system; 
Ours is calculated for peace. These observations acquired 
treble force from a reflection on the disaSecticn of the Eastern 
portion of the union, and its aversion to the war. Of course^ 
we oaght to have shunned every thing that might cause delay. 
It was therefore most extraordinary and unaccountable that the 
president should have chosen Gottenburg in preference to 
London, under all the obvious delays resulting from the ne- 
cessity that would probably arise or be pretended, to consult 
the court of St. James', by the ministers of that court. It 
appears almost as absurd as it would be to choose the Havanna, 
or Port. Royal, were the negociations to be conducted on this. 
:3ide of the Atlantic. This was the more erroneous, from the 
consideration that the fate of large portions of our territory, and 
the lives of hundreds of valuable citizens, might depend upon 
the delay of a single dny. 

Shortly after the annunciation of the choice of Gottenburg, 
^here was a paragraph published here, extracted from a London 
uews-paper, stating that twenty mails were then actually due 
from that place at London, owing to the continued prevalence 
of adverse winds. This w^as an unanswerable proof, if any 
v^ere necessary, of the impropriety of the choice of G ottenburg'* 

Recent mgkct of due Preparations. 

Under this head, the president and the heads of departments 
t?ere still more culpable than under any of the former ones. 

^^^ See the luminous assays on this subject by W. B. Giles, es<l. which^ r^pletj^ 



^0 



THE OLIVE BRANCHv 



From the period of the dowiifal of Bonaparte, and the com^ 
plete triumph of Great Britain and her allies, it was obviou* 
to tjie meanest capacity that her powers of annoyance had in- 
creased prodigiously. The imaiense forces raised to aid the 
Qoaiition against France were liberated from all employment 
but against us. And of the disposition of England to continue 
the w^ar, we had the most convincing indications. The British 
newspapers were replete with denunciations of vengeance 
against us, and with statements of immense preparations for 
our chastisement. And to crown the whole — to remove all 
possible doubt on the subject — to deprive us and our rulers of all 
plea in Justification of our torpor, and a{>athy and neglect, an 
address was published from the lords of the admiralty to the 
navy, stating, as a reason for not discharging so many seamea 
as the return of peace in Europe might have warranted, that 
the war esistinsc with this counrrv for tiie maritime ridits of 
the British Empire, rendered such a measure improper. 

Tendon, April 3Qih, 181 i. 
*'The lords comniljj^ioners of the admiralty cannot anuoui\ee to the fleet the 
itertnination of hostilities without expres?=ing to the petty oiRcers, seamen and royal 
marines of his majesty's ships, l!ie high sense which tlieir lordships entertain ot 
their gallant and glorious services during; the late war, The patience, perseverance 
and discipline ; the skill, courage, and devotion, with which the seamen and ma- 
rines have upheld the best interests, and achieved the neWest triumphs of our 
Goantry, entitle them to the grRtiiade, not only of their native land, which they 
have preserved inviolate, but of the other nations of Europe, ofwho^e ultimate 
deliverance their success maintained the hope and accelerated the accomplishment^ 
Their lordships regret the unjust and unprovoked aggression of the AiV'IERICAN 
GOVERNMENT, in declaring war upon this country, after all the causes of its 
oHglnal complaifit had been removed, does not permit them to reduce the fleet at 
once to a peace establishment But as the question now at issue in this war. is^ 
the maintenance of those Tnarilime righb, nhich are the sure foundation of our 
naval glory^ their lordships look with confidence to that part of the fleet which it 
may be still necessary to keep in commission, for a continuance of that spirit of 
discipline and gallantry, which has raised the British navy to its present pre- 
eminence. In reducing the fleet to the establishment necessary for the American 
rear, the seamen and marines will find their lordships attentive to tlie claims of 
their respective services. The reduction will be first made in the crews of those 
ships which it may be found expedient to pay off ; and from them the petty officers 
and seam-en will be successively discharged, according to the length of their 
services ; beginning in the first instance with all these who were in his majesty's 
service previous to the 7th of March . 1803, and have since continued in it. When 
the reduction shall have been thus made, as to the ships paid off, their lordships 
Tfill direct their attention to those which it may be found necessary to keep ixt 
commission ; and as soon as the circumstances of the war will admit, will bring 
home and discharge all persons having the same standing and periods of service, as 
those discharged from the ships paid oflf ; so that in a few months the situation of 
individuals will be equalized ; all men of a certain period of service will be at 
liberty to return honie to their families; and the number which it may be still 
necessary to retain, will be composed of those who have been the shortest time 
the service. An arrangement in itself so just, cannot, in their lordships' opinion,^ 
fail to give universal satisfaction ; and they are induced to make this communica- 
i^on to the fleet, because^ they thiak that, the ejtei»5lar7 good cccduct oi all ths- 



THE OLIVE BRANCli m 

j^etty officers/seamen, and mjirlnes, er.titlrs them to every confidence, ar.d lothia 
luil "-iid caisdid explanation oi Iheir lordthips' mteiitions. Their lordships cannot 
conclude without e>q)iessir!<r tiieir Lope, tiiat the valor of bis' n.ajesty's fleets and 
arnjies will spcediiy bring tiie Anitrican contest to a coLclu^-ion, iionorahie to tke 
BritisU name, safe for British iiiterests, and conducive to the iabting repose of tii€. 
«:ivilked world. 

By ccniinand of their lcrds!:ips, 

J. W. CROKER.'* 

Nohvitlistanding these symptoms of a near approaching hur- 
ricane, a delusion ahiiost iiiiiversally j revailed through the 
Elation, cf ^vhich it is hardly possible to | roduce a paraliei. 
Numbers of our most enlightened citizens, knoAvino: that the 
restoration of |)eace had removed ali the ostensible causes of 
Avar, and placing full reliance upon the magnaniniity of Great 
Britain, predicated all their arrangements on a speedy and 
honorable peace. Parcliases and sales of |)ropcrty to an incal- 
culable amount, v,ere made under this soothing expectation. 
And v;e uere lulled into a state of the most perfect security^, as 
if rdl our dangers liad ntterly subsided — the temple of Janus 
"vvere about to be closed — and every man v. ere to convert big 
sword into a plough-share. 

To such a degree was this infatualion carried, that autlientic 
information of the sailing of liostiie armaments produced no 
effect to diminish it. We were gravely told, that it was quite 
in character for nations to assume an energetic and formidable 
attitude when tliey were negociating ; that the expense to 
England of sending these armaments was inconsiderable ; that 
I hey would be recalled as soon as a treaty v^ as signed ; and in 
fine that she was too magnanimous to take advantage of the 
existing state of things — withniT" a^i endless vameiy of arguments 
and assertions, equally prof ciind, convincing:, and cogent. 

There were infinite pains taken by the friends of England in 
this country, to foster and extend th.is delusion. Their efforts 
were crowned with the most complete success. The nation 
fell into the snare with a de2:ree of cullibilitv that afforded a 
practical commentary on our pretensions to iiiumination supe- 
rior to the rest of the v. orld. 

These deceits v;ere varied with an address and industry, 
worthy of a better cause. Thej/ assumed every shape from an 
iiumble six-penny paragraph, extracted from a London paper, 
to an important public document. Extracts of letters innumer- 
able, from ^* eminent inerchaiiti;^^ in London, Liverpool, and 
Glasgow, to merchants equal eminence in Boston, New- York, 
Philadelphia, and Baltimore, were published with most confident 
assurances of the immediate appointment of commissioners, to 
uegociatfi with ours, on terms comporting with the magiianim- 



02 THE OLIYE BRANCH. 

i<y ofEnglHiiu, and r,i3ifect!y honorable to the United States, 
Letters \vere said likewise to have been received from Mr 
Gallatin, nill of assiiranees of peace, \vniclrGreai Erltain woulr 
grant on terms more favorablt) than when she was pressed hj 
the power of Eonaparte. All these tales, how wiul or extrava 
gant soever, were greedily canglit at and believed by our citi- 
zens, as they flattered and coincided with their ardent desire fo^ 
peace, feo justly sings the poet, 

" What we wish to be true, we are fond to believe.'' 

Several times we were dehided with information that Ad 
miral Cochrane had received despatches announcing an aj)- 
proachiug armistice, and his consequent recall from the A 
merican station. In a word, no pains were spared to leac: 
us into a most profound sleep ; and the opiates operated mosi 
powerfully. 

During all this deceitful calm, through which every man ol 
discernment might readily and unerringly foresee the approach- 
es of a fearful storm; — as every indication from England, deserv- 
ing of credit, portended a long, a des])erate, and a vindictive 
"warfare; the government of the United States took no measure 
^ to dispel the delusion. In vain the public looked to Washing- 
ton for information on the prospect of affairs. AH was there 
profoundly silent. Government mu«t have had all the inform^ 
ationon the subject that was in this countrj^ : and it was tlieir 
incumbent duty to have disseminated abroad the result of their 
intelligence, that the public might regulate their proceedings, 
and predicate their measures on rational and prudential calcula- 
tions. But this imperious duty vras, I venture to assert, utterly 
neglected. There was not a line of official communication cn 
the subject. And nothing appeared in the National Intelligen- 
cer, tliat strongly marked either a probability of peace, ov of a 
continuance of the war. As far, however, as conclusions could 
be drawn, from that semi-ouiciai paper, they warranted much 
more the hope of a restoration of peace than fear of the eon = 
trarv. 

This conduct, on the part of the admin^sfration, was to the 
last degree culpable. It was a dereliction of duly that exposed 
our citizens to ruinous consequences. The Phiiadelphians 
w ere among the most deluded portion of the people of the Uni- 
ted States. There were no preparations made for defence ex- 
cept the embodying a number of volunteer corps,very inefficient 
Indeed to protect us. And I shudder to think what might have 
been the consefjuences, had the enemy assailed us while we 
were thus napping in a state of stupid and most irrational se* 

Cliritv, 

- * y 



THE OLIVE BRANCIL 



63 



The crash of the confiagratioii at Washington, awaked us 
out of our shinibcrs, and dispelled the delusion. — Y^^e v/ere then 
aroused to a full sense of our dangerous situation, and of tlic 
follv and suDineness that had caused it. We went manfully to 
work — and in a few weeks made such preparations as renewed 
public confidence, and promised fair to enable us to repel the 
-enemy, should he make his appearance. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Hkneral Wilkinson and General Hampton, Prcceedlngs of Con- 
grcss. Lameniable torpor ^ delay ^ and indecision. Neglect of 
public opinion. 

In military affairs, when combined operations are underta- 
ken, it is indispensibly necessarjs in order to insure success, 
that a good understanding should prevail between the com- 
manders who are to co-operate. A want of due attention to 
this obvious dictate of prudence and common sense, has caused 
the failure, among various nations, of expeditions of the utmost 
importance. It is one of those plain rules, v.hlch can hardly 
escape the discernment of a man of even mediocre capacity. 

Nevertheless, the northern campaign of 1813, was intrusted 
fo Gen. Wilkinson, and Gen. H. mpton between whom existed 
a high degree of hostility, which was sufficiently well known^ 
to have pointed out fhe absurdity of the procedure. The issue 
of the campaign was disastrous. And it is not improbable that 
a large portion, perhaps the whole of the disaster, arose from 
the neglect of a rule so very rational, that it is astonishing how 
t could have been overlooked. 

Proceedings of Congress. 

Anions the grievous sins of the ruling party, I know of none 
much more cuipable than the shocking and miserable mode in 
which the proceedings of Congress are managed.— Whatever 
may be the urgency of public business, how ruinous soever 
may be delay, it appears utterly impossible to inspire that body 
with a due degree of energy or promptitude. Week after week^ 
and month after month, pass over — and the public anxiously, 
but in vain, expect remedies to be applied to the disortlers of 
the state. To a most culpable spirit of procrastination, and 
the itch of speaking, this wretched waste of time and neglect 
of the public emb^rrassmecfe may be fairly tracecj. 



64 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Two or three powerful orators on each side take a compre- 
hensive view of a subject. They exhaust it cumileleiy. — 
They are followed by a crowd oi' speakers^ who are unable in 
throw any new or important light on it — and whose speeches 
stand in the same relation to those of the early orators, that a 
bash warmod over a second or third time does to the original 
3ioble sirloin, of whose fragments it is formed. And thus is 
the money of tlie nation expended, and i(s hopes frustrated, 
merely that Mr. A, and Mr. B, and Mr. C, and Mr. D, mny 
Iiave an opporlunit}^ of making long speeches to prove to theic 
constituents how wisely they have selected representatives! 

I have not before me the debates of the British parliament — 
and therefore cannot with full confidence state what is actually 
their mode of proceeding. But it is strongly impressed on my 
mimi, that they generally decide on questions at one sitting. 
This at least 1 can aver with the utmost certainty, that mm}' 
of the most momentous questions, involving the interests of 
80,000,000 of people,^ have been thus decided, after a debate 
from three o'clock in the afternoon, till three our four in the 
morning. And in the debates on these subjects, some of the 
«i:reatest men in Europe have displayed their talents on both 
sides — Erskine, and Fox, and Grey — Pitt, and Burke, and 
Wyndham. Whereas one of our specchificrs will sometimes 
occupy eight, ten, or twelve hours, sometimes two days, with a 
single speech, 

A large portion, of the people of this country have taken 
opposite sides respecting England, its manners, and its customs. 
One party admires and copies the other censures and despi^ 
ses almost every thing British. — -They are both in equal error, 
England presents much to admire and imitnte — much to censure 
and avoid. It is highly desirable we should imitate her in the 
management of her pHrliamentary j^receedings. 

As repects the business of Congress, a remedy ought to be 
applied immediately. The debates o=i^ht to be limited within 
reasonable bounds. When they have been extended fir enough, 
they ought to be term'iiated by the previous question, notwith> 
standin<r the clamor and outcry of the minority. And whenev-' 
er the emergency of the case requires prom >titude, the sitting 
ou^ht to l)e continued ^ill the subject is decided, unless its 
comolication and difficulty may render an adjournment neces- 
sary. 

What a hmentable prospect the country exhibited at the 
moment I wrote these lines ! It was the sixth of December. 

* Including: East India ppssessioas. the above is tbe number of the siibject^'^ 
of tbe British Empire. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Congress bad beon in session iiearly tbree months.^ — Tbey 
found {he credit of the government laid prostrate— tbe sea-board 
exposed to depredation — tbe pay of the army in arrears — and 
every thing in a situation that was calculated to excite energy 
and decision among a nation of Sybarites. And what was the 
result? There bad probably been one or two hundred fiowery 
speeches made— amendments and postponements innumerable 
— and only two important acts passed — one for borrowing three 
millions of dollars — and tbe other for buying or building twenty 
schooners. 

To those who were actu?ited by a sincere regard for the wel- 
fare and safety of their country, these proceedings were a source 
of the most poignant uneasiness. They were utterly unac- 
co^jutable, and irreconcilai*le with the plainest dictates of rea- 
<on and common sense. Laying aside all considerations of 
puMic spirit or ])atriotism5 a due regard to j)ersonal interest and 
personal safety, oaght to have prescribed a totally ditferent line 
of conduct. 

The majority endeavoured to shelter themselves by censuring 
the minority who made those long speeches for the purpose of 
embarrassing them and protracting their debates and proceed- 
ings. This plea would not stand examination. Were it valid, 
a minority of six or eight persons, possessed of the faculty of 
rmking long talks^'^ might at all times baftle a majority, and 
paralize the motions of the government. Suppose each member 
of the mluority to make a speech of a day or two on every sub- 
ject that arose for discussion — allow a reasonable time for repli- 
cation to the majority — and the whole year would be inadequate 
for that portion of business which the British parliament w ould 
with esse despatch in a month. 

Besides the delay arising from the displays of oratory which 
I have stated, there is anotlier source of delay, equally injuri- 
ous. Private and trilling business obtrudes itself on tke atten- 
tion of congress, and occupies a large portion of the time which 
is loudly called for by the important affairs of the nation. The 
former ought to be postponed till the other is all despatched. « 

Here I must notice one particular case, of tbe most extraor- 
dinary Idudthat everoccu'ued the attention of a public Hcnly. 
Never was there a greater mockery .of a deliberative asst m'oly. 
A stud horse, called Romalous, belonging to a Mr. David 
Dardin, was irai>ressed by a continental officer, in the year 
.1781. Having been valued at 750 pounds s;jecie. General 
Green returned him, on account of tLe extravagant price. He 
was afterwards taken by another officer, and never reti»rn«^d* 
Hiswidaw, Mrs. Amy Dardin, has beea a very assiduous ap» 

a 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



plicani to <ion<rress for remuneration from that period ; and the 

Eiilyect has at various sefcsions, occupied a large portion of the 
time of that body. The wages of congress, during the time of 
the debates, would, I am persuaded, purchase horses for the 
best appointed regiment of dragoons in Christendom. A wor- 
thy member from Virginia used to ride Romulus into congress 
in great stale, every year during his life. He is now no more. 
Who has been appointed " master of the horse" in his place, I 
cariHot decide. But that he has a successor, is beyond a iloubt ; 
for Dardin's horse was curvetting aud prancing as usual, even 
during the late very important session. 

A gentleman to whom I mentioned this circumstance, in- 
forms me that in the years 1802 and 1803, there were two pam- 
phlets published on this subject at the expense of the nation,/or 
the use of ike mcinbcrs., tlie cost of which w ould perhaps have 
paid for the horse. 

To render this procedure more culpable, as v^ell as more 
farcical, the Senate of the United States were on the 7th or 8th 
or Qlluof Februar}^ 1815, when every moment of their time 
■was inexpressibly invaluable, gravely debating a bill for the re- 
iriirtieration of Mrs. Dardin ! And they were then within a 
month of the close of their session — ^and had made no provision 
ior the defence of our citios, liable to hourly destruction, nor 
for the restoration of public credit! The mind is lost in the 
most profound astonishment at the contemplation of such a 
futile, such a puerile mcde of managing public business. I 
urn mistaken if the annals of legislation can produce any par- 
allel. 

One of two things. The daira is just or unjust. If the for- 
mer, it is disgraceful and dishonorable not to have discharged 
it. If otherwise, it is really insufferable to have the public tax- 
^d by such importunity. 

Neglect cfPuUic Opinion. 

Of all the errors of the two administrations of Mr. Jefferson 
and Mr. Medison, the least criminal^ but probably the m.ost 
.pernicious in its results, is^ the indifference they have display- 
ed towards the unfounded gillegations whereby they were borne 
down, and their reputation and usefulness destroyed. This 
m^y have arisen from an absurd reliance on the good sense of 
the public — or on the rectitude of their own intentions — perhaps 
from their indolence or inattention. It was probably founded, 
if it arose from either of the tv\o first motives, upon a trite, but 
laliacioustnaxim, whigh antiquity hath bequeathed us — ^Trutfc 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



67 



i^'gre^t and ^vill prevail. Millions of times lias this captivar 
ting maxim been pronounced ; and it is almost universally ad- 
mitted as incontrovertible. Yet the history of the world in 
almost every page bears testimony to its fallacy. Truth, un- 
aided by industry, and activity, and energy, combats at very 
unequal odds against falsehood, supported by these auxiliaries. 
That truth, " other things being equal,'' is an overmatch for 
falsehood, 1 freely grant. But the friends of the forner, if they 
rely wholly on its intrinsic merits, and do not exercise a due 
degree of vigilance, will be miserably deceived in their calcula- 
tions. 

A supposed case in point. A matron is cliarged with having 
been seen entering a brothel in the face of day, with a notorious 
seducer. The story spreads. It is universally believed. Her 
character is destroyed. She is shunned as contaminatory. Six 
months afterwards, she produces a host of unexceptionable 
witnesses to prove an alibi. They establish incontrovertibly, 
that at the time stated, and for months before and after, she was 
in China or Japan. It is in vain. Her character is gone. The 
waters of the Atlantic would not purifj'^ her. She pays for 
her neglect and her folly, the mighty forfeit of a destroyed rep- 
utation 

Thus has it been with the administrations of Mr. Jefferson** 
and Mr, Madison. They have been charged with criminal 
conduct, frequently of the most i!agrant kind. The charges 
have been passed over in silence for a considerable time. Not 
being denied, they were presumed to be admitted. And ia 
fact, how can the public determine, whether silence under 
accusation arises from cotiscious guilt, a reliance upon con- 
scious rectitude, or an absurd and criminal neglect of public 
opinion ? 

I say, " a criiiiinal neglect of public opnicnJ^ This declara- 
tion is not lightly hazarded.. Tlie character of a public officer 
is in some sort public property. A private person may allow 
his to be destroyed, perhaps without inSicting misfortune on 
any person but himself. But the destruction of that of a public 
officer is really a public injury — as it materially impairs, if i4 
does not destroy, his usefulness. 

There is in the history of General Washington, a circum- 
stance which appears a departure from the sound, masculin© 
good sense that almost universally presided over his conduct. 
During the revolutionary war, some of the British emissaries 
published a collection of letters ascribed to him, which were 
partly genuine, but interpolated with forgeries, and partly fet- 
*^rs- altogether forged. They were calculated to inspire strong 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

tloubts of his attachmeat to, and confidence ia the revolution. 
They were edited by a masterly pen. 

The attack was unavailing. The attachment to, and confi- 
dence in, the general, were unimpaired. The pamphlet sunk 
into oblivion. 

In the year 1795, during the discussion ipxcited by Jay's 
treaty, it was reprinted as a genuine collection, and had an 
extensive circulation. General Washington did not at the 
time notice it. He allowed it to take its course, apparently 
indilTerent as to the consequences. But at the close of his 
public functions, he recorded in tlie oliice of the secretary of 
state a formal declaration of the for^rerv. I feel convinced the 
procedure was injudicious. If the pamphlet were entitled to 
any animadversion, the proper period was when it was repub- 
lished, and of course when it w-ould produce all the eSect that 
could result from it on liis public character. 

The instances of neglects of this kind on the part of Mr. 
JeiTerson and Mr. Madison, are numberless. I shall onlv^ instance 
iv<o, A charge was aliedged against the former, of iiavins: sent 
two millions of dollars to Prance for some secret and sinister 
purpose, which I cannot now recollect. It had been in univer- 
sal circulation throughout the union, without any forma! or 
Sf(tisfactory contradiction, for months. At length, after it had 
done ail the mischief it w as calculated to produce, an autli^ntic 
documental disproof crept out, [xJ^ exactly like the lady's alihi^ 
cjid [U^" with the same effect. 

One other instance, and I have done with this part of my 
subject. The offer of the Russian mediation was nuide by 1 1. 
Daschkoff in March, 1813. Mr. Pickering in Boston, shortly 
afterwards published a series of letters on the su- ject, winch 
were republislied in almost every town and city of the United 
Slates. He openly and unqualifiedly asserted that the w hole 
transaction was a fraud and imposture — so'elv calculated to 
delude the citizens into subsciiptions for th.e pending loan,— 
He denied the offer of mediation altogether : and boldly referred 
to M. Daschkoff, and to Dr. Logan, to prove his statements 
correct. If ever an accusation demanded attention nnd di?- 
proval, this was of that description. It was advanced undee 
Ms own signature, by a man who had held high ofScial stations, 
and who possessed very considerable standing with the oppose rs 
of the government. But the same fatal and unpardona'de nes;- 
lect prevailed as in so many other instnnces. Tlie allegation 
was allowed fo TU'oduce its full etiect without any other at* 
tempt at counteraction, (ban 51 few anonymous paragraphs of 
(knial. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



To rentier this error more palpable, a motion was made in 
the senate of the United States, on the 2d of June, 1813, fov 
n d.isclosiire of the correspondence, of which tlie government 
ought to have gladly availed itself. But it was rejected. 

At length, when the affair had in some measiire sunk into 
oblivion, on the ISthof Jan. 1814, a motion was carried in the 
iiouse of Representatives of the United States, for the pubiication 
of the correspondence on the sul^ject. It then appeared that the 
whole of the charges were caIur;inioiis and unfounded — and that 
the transaction reflected a high degree of credit as well on the 
potent monarch, who took so warm an interest in our affairs, as 
on oiii governmeiit, for its prompt acceptance of the mediation. 
But ihe disclosure was too late to counteract any of the perni- 
^nous ciTects that had resulted from the accusation. Many 
persons to this day believe the whole tL'aDsaction a 'Jeception 



CHAPTER VIIL 

r.apu::c of WashinxtGn, Causes. lylismana^cment. Fori 
WashingiGn, Trial of Captain Dyson, Extraordinary Sent- 
ience, Loans, Injioy to Public Credit Rctroquciion, 

The Caviure of Wasidno'ton. 

OxN the 24th of August, the capital of the United States was 
taken by the enemy. Their force was by no means of such 
magnitude as would have f prevented the disaster from being 
accompanied by disgrace. Had it been o\ 3rwhelming, the loss 
might have excited regret, but we should have been spared 
mortification and disgrace. But as it stands a subject for 
historical record, the loss, although very great, is undeserving 
of consideration. Placed beside the dishonor, it sinks intQ 
Insignificance like a molehill beside a mountain. 

The force of the enemy is variously stated. The highest 
estimate is 6,000. Dr. Catl^tt, who had a favorable Ojjportunitj 
of ascertaining with precision, states it at 3,540. Every person 
with whom I have conversed, that saw them, has been of opin- 
ion that they were so jaded with their march, and so dispirited, 
that, had suitable preparations been made, they might have been 
easily defeated, and probably captured. 

They landed at Benedict, on the 18th of August, and proceed? ) 
ed in a tolerably regular course towards Washington, which ttag 
iie only object worthy of their attentioij. They were sis day© 

G 2 



70 



THE OLIVE ERANCKT. 



on their march. And (here w as hardly any attempt at efficient 
prepar^ition made for their reception, till three or tour dciys 
before their arrival at that city. The secretary at war ridiculed 
the idea of their attacking Washington, till Avithin three diiy» 
of the battle of Bladensburg. 

One obvious plan of defence, \\hich would have struck the 
mind of a, mere tyro kijnilitary affairs, was to have garriscned 
the capitol and the president's house, with as powerful a force 
as could conveniently operate there. Th.e strength of tl ese 
two buildings would have enabled the garrisons to hold out a 
long time, until troops could have been collected to encounter 
the enemy. 

It is not for me to decide on whom the censure ought to fall- 
on the president — the secretary at war — on the district general, 
¥v^inder — or on the whole together. But let that point be de- 
termined as it niiiy, it cannot be denied, that nothing but the 
most culpable neglect could have led to the results that took 
place — results which could not fail to prove injurious to the 
national character in Europe, and which, had not the news of 
the exploits of the brav e and illustrious M'icdonough and Ma- 
comb, arrived there at the same time as the account of this 
disgracefid disaster, would have materially and perniciously 
affected the negociation at Ghent. 

When the t}receding strictures were written, I had not seen 
the Report of the Committee appointed to investigate the sub- 
iect, which I have recent! v examined with attention. It is 
clearly established by the documents annexed to this repart, 
that the disastei' arose from a series of the most extraordinary 
and unaccountable mismanagement. I shall enumerate a few 
of the instances in brief. 

Let me previously observe, that tlie president stands excu]» 
pated from censure in the affair ; for a cabinet council was held 
at Washington, on the 1st of July, wherein it was resolved to 
establish a new military district, to comprise the cities of 
Washington, Baltimore, and the adjacent country. The 
command of it w as^ given tp general Winder, who had explicit 
directions to make preparations to repel the enemy, should ha 
make any attempt on the seat orgov^ernraent, which the council 
judged highly probable. 

Among the errors committed, the fellowing are the mo^ 
prominent : 

1. There was no attempt made to fortifj^ those pafts of tha 
country calculated for defence, although General' Van Nesg, 
on behalf of the citizens of the district of Columbia, made 
je]?eat€d and earnest applications to the seijretary at war on 



THE OLIVE BRANCff. 



71 



Uie s^uliject, anil although he repeatedly promised to pay 
attention to their reque&ts. 

2. There was not the slightest effoi^t to arre{^t the progress of 
the enemy, fi'oin the time ot his debarkation till the day of the 
battle of Bladensburg, ahhough the country th.rough which he 
passed was admirablj'' ealciihited for the purpose. 

3. There was no cani[) formed equidislantly between Balti- 
more and IVashinglon, so as to he abie to cover and protect 
cither or both phices. 

4. The troops from BaUhiiore ^vere not ordered out in due 
season. Hud »he orders been, as mosi indubitably they ought to 
have been, issued atleasi on ihe debarriaiioa of 'he enem3\ ihese 
troops woukl have arrived in proper lime — been fit for duty— 
and probably rescued the country from the disgrace. 

5. The orders for the Bnliimore troops to march, were re- 
ceived in B iltimore on Saturday the 20 h of August. They 
lookup the line of mir^h the next day, Sunday the Slst. — - 
On tJiat evening they received an crdcr from general Winder^ hy 
express, to halt until furthetr orders ! Next day, they 
bad renewed orders to m irch with fall s[)eed to Bladensburg. — 
Those to General Stan^hury were received at 10 A.M. and those 
to Colonel Sierrett at 2 P. The former reached Bladensburg 
on the 22d at night — the latter on the 2ad at night. The fatal 
delay arising from the orders to halt, was among the principal 
eauses of the disaster. Colonel Slerretl's corps arrived on the 
ground, jaded, and fatigued, and harrassed. They had but little 
rest the night |>revious to the battle, owing to some false alarms^ 
and were m everj- respect un&t for being led into the engage- 
ment, 

6. Colonel Young's brigade, by order of General Winder, 
was stationed at a distance from the field of battle, where il 
remained inactive during the whole time of the engagement^ 
although within hearing of the report of the cannon. 

7. An efficient corps of 600 infantry, ami 100 cavalry, under 
Colonel Minor, arrived a^ Washington on the evening preced- 
ing the battle. The Colonel applied to General Armstrong for 
arms, and was directed to ^XT' rej)ori himself the next morning U ! 
to Colonel CarbeiTy, who had the care of the arsenal. This 
jj^entleman spent the night at his country seat, and was-not to be 
Sound in the morning, althou2:h invaluable hours were spent irr 
the ^arch for him. At length an order for arms was procured 
fiom General Winder. Even then delay occurred^ from the 
scrupulosity of Colonel Carberry's deputy in counting the flints, 
and further delay in giving receipt for them. The consequence 
was, tlxat thi« corp^> which would^ almost to a certainty, have 



72'' 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



decided the iale of the day in favor of iheir country, begrrn their 
march so hue, that they had no shaie v>hatever in the action, 
mid mei the reUealirig army af er its defeat ! ! ! 

B. Had a stand beea made in Washiiigion, and the Vvhole 
fDice, even dlscoRifited as it was, been collected together. t]iere 
is no doubt but the loss might have been retrieved. Ru:. there 
'U'as not ihe slighUsl effort of Ibc kind made. The retreat ^vas 
conducted in a disordei ly manner, and as much like a flight as 
CO aid be. 

Tiiroughout this work, in all iniprr^.nt cases, I do not merely 
refer to mv authoniies, as is iisiially done. The reader must 
observe that I quote, as ^vell as refer to them. I am desirous of 
Silencing incredulity herself. In pursuance of this plaii, I 
!?iibnilt a few short extracts f/orn tiie documents published by 
Congress, on which the preceding views are founded. 

J^xiracls from the letter of Gen. Van Ness to the committee of Coni^res?, apprlnted 
to enquire into the causes of the capture of IVashiugton, dited A'jiv 23, 13 1 4., 

About the opening: of Ibf present camprii2,n, I presped again upon the ?ccreliXry 
iae sabjact generaih' of our defence .; sii52,esting, in additioji to ti]c occlusion of the 
'river, the convenience and impjrianct qf a cf. nircd camp, {n(eri}ieJi:iic betjvecn BjI- 
ii7norc, Annavolxs, IVashinglon, Altxandria, Gcorgehrvn, and ike neighbovrin^ 
loans and country. And in tVequ^nt isitervlews, (in niiiuher, to he ?iire, very mucb 
increased by the impoi'tiiaate applications and solicitations lo me, of both tlie civ- 
il Riid military branches of the coinmnnilv, whose coafideace in the secretary ap- 
peared at an early period, at best wavering, if not declining,) sometimes official, 
«t other times not so, which I iiad with him. as the campaign progressed, I did not 
fdiV to repeat the .suggestion. J still received as-urances, generally verbal, fa- 
vourable, accompanied by an otherwise apparent indiiference, and coQi'dence in 
our security.*"' * ^ * * 

Thus had the campaign progressed, without any visible steps towards works 
p? defence, either permanent or temporary, either on the laiid or the waterside, 
(/ mver having heard if a spade or an axe being stnick in any such operation^) or 
toward- forming a rendezvous or camp of regular troops in the neighbourhood, to 
the great ancciety, inquiehide, and ahrm of ihe district and surrounding country ; 
ike secretary generally treating with indifference at least, if not ivith levity ^''the 
idea of an attack by Vie enemy, j''"' ^ * * * 

In Augu-t last, when the increased and reinforced fleet, with the troop?, as- 
cended the Chesapeake, and were known, from authentic information, to have 
entered the Patuxeflt, I called on secretary Armstrong again ; and expressed, as 
liiUal, my apprehensions, arising from want of means and preparations ; adding, 
that from the known naval and reputed land force of the enemy, he probably 
meant to strike a serious blow. His reply was, Oh yes ! by G — they tvould 
not come nn,ih such a fleet without meaning to strike- somewhere : hut they certcinly 
?viU not come here. What ihe d — I will they do here &(c After remarking that 
i differed very much from him, as to the probable interest they felt in destroying 
or capturing our Beat of government, and that 1 believed a visit to tnis place 
would, for several reasons, be a favourite object with them, he observed. No, 
no ! Baltimore is the place, sir ; that is of so much more consequence.:}:'' * * * * 

I continued to see general Winder occasionally as before, and to be astonished 
at the apparent sluggishness or procrastination in the preparation for the recep- 
tion of the enemy, who was on his advance I recollect well, that even after he 

Beport, page 287. f Idem, page 288, | Idem, page 292,- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH.. 



73' 



liJid, according to autb.ectlc ?.nd undoubted infcrmation, 3sccr,dcd to tht head cf 
the ship navigpition of the Fatuxeut, and had, for about t^Tcnty-foyr hours, hf-en 
debarking on the hither bank of that river, aiid ffjorchin-^ his troops to their en- 
campment on the heights of Benedict, (about ^^0 mile? from this cb the usual 
route,) general W. in ansArer to an inquiry of mine, v, hether he had ordei ed on 
auY troops from Ealthr.ore. and T^hether lie thouscht they would be liere in time, 
Fiid, THAT THEY VrERE ORDERED ON , AIND THAT ALL Hlg 
FEAR WAS, THAT THEY WOULD BE HERE 700 SOON. Expres- 
s^in^ to him my astonish'nirnt at the apprehension, he said, he thought it very 
probable tliat the enemy would iBuddenly turu about, and make a blcvr at Balti- 
inore.f" 

Extract /rem General Stansluri/U Ixfpcrf, 

The men under my command were worn down and nearly exhaii?ted from 
lonj; and forced marches, want of food, and watchii-g. They had beeiu w^ik 
very Utile intermission, vndtr urnis^ and inarchiiig. from the time of ihtir depar- 
ture f rom Baltimore^ r ith but Utile sleep^ had vroiision^^ and hut little opportunily 
t4j rook. They certainly were not in a situation to go into battle j but my orders 
were positive ; and I was determined to obey them. 

Before, and during the action, / did not see any of the force I nns led to expect 
Ti^cnild support rue. 1 understood since, they were on their way to my assistance, 
and I presume exertions were made lo bring them up|.'' 

Extract from Colonel 31inorh Report. 

I took up my line of march,, and arrived at the capitol between sunset and 
dark, [Aug. 23d.] and immediately made my way to the president, and reported 
my arrival ; when he referred me to general Armstrong, to whom 1 repaired, and 
informed him as to the strength of the troops, as well as to the want of arms, am- 
munition, &;c. which made it as late as early candle-ligiit ; when I was informed 
by that gentleman, the arms, &c. could not be had that night, and directed to re- 
port myself n-xt morning to colo-nel Carberry, nko nouM furnish me nith orms^ 
ScC. which gentleman, from f arly next morning, I diligently sought for, until a 
iate hour of the forenoon, witliout being able to find him, and then went in search 
of general U'inder, whom I found near tlie Eastern Branch ; when he gave an or- 
der to the armourer for the munitions wanting, with orders to return to the capi- 
tol, tliereio Kail further orrfers||." 

Extract from the Report ef Doctor Caihtt. 

Respecting the condition of the enemy's troops, I was informed by geveral of 
\he Briti^ii officers, that just previous to tiieir reaching Bladensburg, (with exces- 
sive hitgue or entire exhaustion) they nere dropping off in consideroble numbers } 
thai in the action, it rvas only by the most extranrdinary exertions that the raain body 
cndd be goaded on. Although I observed some of their flankers a.t times advance 
on the run a small distance, these were said to be only the most active of their 
light companies of, and attached to, their b^tli reginjent, commanded by lieute- 
nant-colonel Thornton, acting as brii;adier : they ajipeored to me to halt, as if ex- 
hausted nith fatigue, at or nei.r ikeplnce n-here the firing ceased^ on our p^irt^ about 
a mile and a half on this side of Bladensburg, about two o''clock, P. M."ir 

Extract from the Report of the Committee of Congress on the capture of 

Washington, 

" Our forces at this time st the Old PieldH, are variously estimated, with no 
material diiTerence, at about 3,000 men, in the following corps j about 400 horse, 
under the command of the following o.ncers : lieut. col. Lavall, col. Tiiman, 
t-aptains Caldweii, Tiiornton. Herbert, V^'illinms. Sue. 400 regular troops, under 
the command of licat. col. Scott, viz. 33th, 38th, and capt. Morgan's company 



Report, page 296. t Iden!, page 135, p Idem, page 231. H Idem, page 3) L 



74 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

of the l'2th infantry ; 600 niarines and flotilla-men urider com. Barney arid capt. 
Miller, with five pieces of hea-'/y artillery — two 18 pounders and three twelve' 
pounders: 1.800 militia and volunteers, gen. Smith's brigade of Georgetown 
and city militia, and Maryland militia under col. Kramer, of which there were 
two companies of artillery under c^ yt. Burch and major Peter, with six 6 pounders 
each, making an ags:reg;ate of 3.1'CO, with 17 pieces of artillery. The enemy ncs 
nitkout cavalry^ and had bvo small Jidd pieces and one hormtzer. drann by men ; 
and the whole country well takulafed for defence^ skirmishing^ and to impede the 
march of an enemy. ''^^ ^ * ^- *^ 

The march of our army t© the city was extremely rapid and precipitate, and 
orders occasionally given to captain!"! of companies to hurry on the men, who were 
extremely fa' igued and exiiausted before the camping ground was reached, near 
tlie Eastern Branch bridge, within the district of Columbia."! * * * * 

" Colonel George Minor, with his regiment of Virginia militia, composed of 600 
infantry and 100 cavalry, arrived at the city of Washington in the twilight of the 
evening of the 2;^d ; he called on the pre.^ident who referred him to the secretary 
of war for orders; the secretary informed him that arms could not he had thai 
night, but gave orders to report himself to coloml Carberry, early in the mornings 
who would furnish him with arms end ammunition, as he was charged with that 
duty by gen. Winder. From early in the morning till late in the afternoon, col. 
Minor sought col. Carberry diligently, but he could not be found. He rode to 
head-quarters, and obtained an order from gen. Winder upon the arsenal for arms, 
&c. ; marched to the place with his regiment, and its care he found committed to 
•a young man, whose caution in giving out arms, &:c. very much delayed the arm- 
ing and supplying this regiment."; # * # * 

** The distance from Benedict to the city of Washington, by Bladensburg, is 
upwards of fifty miles. The enemy jvas without baggage-7voggons or means of 
transportation ; his troops much exhausted with fatigue ; many compelled to quit 
the ranksy and extraordinary exertions u^ed to keep others in motion ; aruL, as if 
uruible to pursue our forces^ remained on the battle ground : the enemy's advance 
reached the city about eight o'clock in the evening, the battle having ended about 
two o'clock, or before "[| * # * * 

" The enemy, on the ev^ening of the 2.^th, m?.de the greatest exertions to leave 
the city oi Wasliiugton. They had about 10 indifFereut looking horses, 10 or 12 
carts and waggons, one ox-cart, one coach- and several gigs. Tiiese were sent to 
Bladensburg to move off the wounded A drove of 60 or 70 cattle preceded this 
party. Arriving at Bladensburg the British surgeon was ordered to select the 
ivounded who could walk ; thr forty horses were mounted by those who could ride ; 
the carts and waggons loaded ; and upvardsnf 90 grounded hft beJiind. About 
12 o'clock at nigrit tiie British army passed through Bladensburg ; and parties 
continued until morning, -and stragglers until after mid-day. The retreat of (he 
enemy to his shipping was precipitate and apparently under an alarm : and it is 
::upposed that it was known to him that our forces had marched to Montgomery 
court-house, "5 * * * * 

''On the i2th of July, gen. Winder was autliorized, in case of menaced or 
actual invasion, to call into service the whole quota of Maryland. On the I7th 
gen. Winder was authorised to call into actual service not less than 2 nor more 
than 3,000 of the drafts assigned to his command, to form a permanent force to bs 
stationed in some central position between Baltimore and the city of Washington, 
On the same day, 17th of July, gen. Winder wa« autliorized to call on the state 
of Pennsylvania for 5.000 men ; on Virginia, 2.000 ; on the militia of the district 
of Columbia, in a disposable state, 2.000 : together with the 6,000 f.'-om .Maryland, 
making an aggregate force of 15,000 drafted militia, 3,000 of which fn/.fAoWsef^ 
to be called into actual service ; the residue in case of actual or menaced invasion, 
besides the regular troops estimated at 1.000, making 16,000, independent of ma - 
rines and flotilla-men. This was the measure of defence contemplated for tlie 
iriilitary district No 10, and ttie measures taken by the war department up to Wvt^ 
of July in execution of it.^'' 



* Report, page 21. f- Idem, page 2^, | Idem, page 26. 

ii Idem, page 34. Idem, page 3t>. 1!" Idem, page 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



75 



Vestruciion of Fort Wasliingion» 

One extraordinary circumstance attended this disastrous affair, 
which I cannot refrain from stating to the public. Fort Wash- 
ington Avas commanded by captain Dyson, ^vhen the British 
took the cii}^ of Washington. He had received orders from 
general Winder, in case tiie enemy came in^o his rear, to blow- 
up the fort, and retreat with his garrison. The enemy came. 
His orders were clear and explicit. He obeyed ihem — as it 
appears he was in duty bound. 

For this act, he was brought to trial — ^and sentenced to be 
dismissed the service. 

I am no military man, I know little of military affairs. I 
am therefore liable to error when I pronounce opinions on ibem. 
But wdth due deference to this court mariial, wheieof " brigadier 
general Smith, of the militia of the district of Columbia, was 
president," I cannot but believe captain Dyson's case to be 
peculiarly severe : and, judging on plain principles of reas^»n 
and common sense, I think the sentence most exlravaganlly 
unjust. Were I in this situation, I would appeal to the world 
against such a condemnation — and " make the welkin ring" 
with my complaints. 

Extract froni the Report of General Winder, 

** 1 sent, by major Hite, directions to the commanding ofScer of Fort Washing- 
ton, to advance a guard to the main road upon all the roads leading to the fort^ 
and in ihe event of his being taken in the rear of the fort by the enemy, to blow up 
the fort, and retire across ihe rivery — Report, page 172. 

1 wish to have it understood that I have no personal know- 
ledge of general Armstrong, general Winder, or captaia Dyson 
« — nor do I believe I have ever seen any of them. 

Departure of General Isardfrom Plattshurg. 

One of the most extraordinary measures of the war — a meas- 
ure utterly indefensible, — has, as far as 1 know, almost wholly 
escaped censure. Jt ajBfords one among ten thousand instances, 
to prove how seldom approbation or censure is meted out with 
due regard to justice. 

General Izard had an array of about 8000 re9;alars in the 
neighborhood of Plattshurg. General Pvevost, at no very great 
distance, had the command of about 14,000 troo[»s, principally 
veterans. While the eyes of the nation were direc led towar(te 
that quarter, and every man interesied for the honor, the hap- 
piness, the independence ot his country, was tremMingly alive 
ta the future,, and filled with the most awful forebodings of a 



THE OLIVE BRANCif, 



ruinous result, from the fearful odds against our little arm\% 
amazement and terror tilled every breast, to nnd that 5 or 6000 
of our troops, under the general, who had directed his uiraost 
energy to train them to service, and to acquire their confidence, 
w ere ordered to a remote situation, on an unimportant expedi- 
tion, in which no laurels were, or prohablj^ couid be, acquired. 
Th'Js was n n20st invaluable frontier exposed to all the horrors 
of desolation. 

The annals of warfrtre present no instance of srrealer fatuity, 
it is dit!icult to conjecture what could have been the ohjecr con- 
temf?lated by this wonderful movement. But wh Jever it 
might have been, had the utmost success crowned the lUiiierrak- 
ing, it cou]d not possibly, have compensated for the issue which 
was to be rationally Ccdculate<l on rU Fiattsbjrg. 

The result, however, was highly giorious to thf; n.^tio^ — 
Nothing could be more fortunate Bui this doos not dimi jish 
an iota of the cens!ire due to the measure. — The charac-ef* of an 
action, good or bad, is not affected, except viih the c m.^ifle,''^ 
by its success, whether prosperous or »he reverse. Many of 
the wisest schemes ever devised have failed of success. M-my 
of the most absurd awl ridiculous h?.ve prospered. But e^ierv^ 
man whose approbation is worthy of regard, commends or rep- 
robates a measure according to the w isdom or folly displayed in 
planning it. 

Had general Izard's army remained at Piattsburg, and aided 
hi the discomfiture of governor Prevost, the triumph of the Uni- 
ted States at the Saranac would not have been so tr lasceudiint- 
ly great. Their removal, therefore, how absurd soever it was, 
is subject of the most serious rejoicing. It hfis added immense* 
ly to the laurels the nation acquired in the w ar. 

Loxins. 

The last and perhaps the most grievous and unpardonable er- 
ror of the democratic party — an error, pregnant with bnlefu] con- 
sequences to the finances and credit of the country, wp^s, denend- 
ing on loans for the supijort of the war, and deferring the impo- 
sition of taxes adequate to erect the superstructure of oublic 
credit upon. This arose from the miserable and pernicious 
dread of forfeiting po})ularity, and losing the reins of govern- 
ment — a dread often the parent of the most destructive meas- 
ures. The consequence of this highly reprehensible error was, 
that the loans were m ule to very considerable loss, and that 
the public credit of the nation was most lament tbiy impaired. 

* It maybe proper to state, that the true distinction of the Cananie, is not 
dre^s, or station. It is liiind. There are mm \Tortiiten thousand a-year, wh© 
»re of the mnaiUet^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



77 



1 HAVE now gone tlirough a review of the principal errors 
and follies, the neglects and the misinanagements of the demo- 
cratic party. I have detailed and canvassed them with the 
boldness and indepenclence of a freeman. I have followed the 
sound advice of Othello : 

" Nought extenuate — nor aiiglit set down in malice." 

On many of these points I am greatly at variance with naeo 
of powerful talents belonging to that party. Some of my facts 
and opinions have been controverted by a critic of considerable 
acumen, in one of the daily papers. I have reexamined the 
various subjects embraced in this volume; and, where I have 
found cause to change my opinion, I have unhesitatingly done 
so. My o! ject is truth. I have pursued it steadily — and as far 
as I can judge of myself, without undue bias. But I well know 
how diflicult it is for human weakness to divest itself of preju- 
dice and partiality. To the candid reader^ I submit the de- 
cision. 

This detail of misconduct has been a painful task. Far more 
agreeable v;oidd it have been to have descanted on the merits 
and talents of the president and other public functionaries. — 
To a man of a liberal mind it is infinitely more agreeable to be- 
stow the meed of praise, than to deal out censure. But a rough 
truth is preferable to a smooth falsehood. And whatever chance 
v> e have of arriving at the haven of peace and happiness, de- 
pends upon a fair and candid examination of ourselves, which 
must infallibly result in a conviction, that, so great have been 
the errors, the follies, and the madness on both sides, that mu- 
tual forgiveness requires no effort of generosity — it is merely an 
act of simple justice. 

Before I quit this branch of ray subject, it is but proper to 
observe, that it is hardly possible to conceive of a more difficutt 
and arduous situation than Mr. Jefferson and Mr Madison have 
been placed in. They have had to strugcirle with two belliger- 
ents, one supremely powerful by land, and on that element hold- 
ing in awe the chief part of the civilized world — the other 
equally powerful by sea : — and each in his rage a«:ainst the oth- 
er, violating the clearest and most indisputable rights of neu- 
trals, and inflicting upon us, in a time of pretended peace, nearly 
as much injury as if we were ranked among the belligerents.— 
And the divisions and distractions of the country, with the 
formidable opposition of a powerful party, embracing all the 
governments of the eastern States and a considerable portion of 
the citizens of the rest of the union, ^lust have caused tte ad« 

H 



78 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

ministration infinitely more trouble and difficulty than the two 
belligerents together. The federalists, as 1 shall show more 
fully in the sequel, after goading the government into resistance, 
and vilifying it for not procuring redress, thwarted, opposed, 
and rendered nugatory every rational effort made to accom- 
plish the very object they professed to seek — a degree of mad- 
ness and folly never-enough-to-be-deplored. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Tlie Federalists. Federal CmventionaiidCoiistiiiiiion, Complainls 
of want of energy in the Constiinlion, Disorganizers and 
JacGhins. Alien and Sediiion Laws, Loss of Pmvcr, Chwiife 
of Views* 

Maying thus taken wliat I hope wili be allowed to be a can- 
did view of the errors and misconduct of the democratic party, 
it remains to perform the same office for their opponents. And 
I feel confident, it will appear that the latter have at least as 
much need to solicit forgiveness of their injured country, as the 
former. In the career of madness and folly which the nation 
has rue, they have acted a conspicuous part, and may fairly dis- 
pute the palm with their competitors. 

In the federal convention, this party made every possible ex- 
ertion to increase the energy and add to the authority of the 
general government, and to endow^ it with powers at the expense 
of the state governments and people. Bearing strongly in mind 
the disorders and convulsions of some of the very ill-balanced 
republics of Greece and Italy, their sole o!>ject of dread appear- 
ed to be the inroads of anarchy. AncJ as mankind too generally 
find it difficult to steer the middle course, their apprehensions of 
the Scyiia of anarchy effectually blinded them to the dangers of 
the Charybdis of desiK)tism. Had they possessed a complete 
ascendency in tlie convention, it is probable they would have 
fallen into the opposite extreme to that which decided the tenor 
of the constitution. 

This party w as divided among themselves, A small but ve- 
ry active division v^ere monarchists, and utterly disbelieved in 
tbe efficacy or security of the republican form of government, 
especially in a territory so extensive, as that of the United 
States, and embracing so numerous a population as were to be 
taken into the calculation at no distant period- The remainder 
w ere genuine republicans, men of enlightened views, and a 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



79 



liio-h degree of public spirit and patriotism. They differed as 
widely from the monarchic part of that body, as from the de- 
mocrats. It is unfortunate that their councils did not prevail. 
For it is true in government, as in almost all other human con- 
cerns—that safety lies in middle courses. Violent and impass- 
ioned men lead themselves, and it is not wonderful they lead 
others astray. This portion of the federal party advocated an 
energetic, but at the same time a republican form of govern- 
ment, which on all proper occasions might be able to command 
and call forth the force of the nation. 

The following letter sheds considerable light on the views of 
Alexander Hamilton, who took a distinguished part in the pro- 
ceedings of that respectable body.— It is obvious that a presi- 
dent during good behaviour, which was a favourite feature with 
Mr. Hamilton, could hardly be considered other than a presi- 
dent for life. 

New York, Sept. 16, 1803, 
*^ My i>eaii t-"wlll no onol<^''v for mv delay in answering your in- 
qiiiry some time since made, because i could offer none which WOUld satisfy my.^ 
self. 1 pray you only to believe, that it proceeded from any thing rather than 
want of respect or regard, 1 shall now comply with your request. 

The highest-toned propositions which I -made in the convention were for a 
president^ senate^ and judges^ during good hekavior ; a house of representatives 
for three years. Tho-vgh i would have snlarged the legislative power of the gen- 
eral government, yet I never contemplated tlie abolition of the state governments, 
Bui on the contrary, they were, in some particulars, constituent parts of my plaD,^ 
'* This plan was, in my conception, conformable with the strict theory of a gov- 
ernment purely republican ; the essential criteria of which are, that tHe principal 
Ovgians of the executive and lcgi?lative departments be elected by the people, andi 
hold their offices by a responsible and temporary or defeasible nature. 

A vote was taken on the proposition respecting the executive. Five states 
were in favor of it ; among t)iese Vij^ginia ; and though, from the manner of vo= 
ting by delegations, individuals were not distinguished ; it was morally certain, 
from the linown situation of the Virginia members (six in number, two of them. 
Mason and Randolph, professing popular doctrines) that Madison must have 
concurred in the vote of Virginia. Tlius, if 1 ginned against republicanism, Mr» 
Madison is not less guilty. 

^* 1 may truly then say that I never proposed either a president or senate for 
]ife and that 1 neither recommended nor meditated the annihilation of the state 
governments. 

" And 1 may add, that in the course of the discussions in the convention, nei- 
ther the propositions thrown out for debate, nor even those voted in the earlier 
stages of deliberation, were considered as evidences of a definite opinion in the 
proposer or voter. It appeared to be in some sort understood, that, with a view 
to free investigation, experimental propositions might be made, which were to be 
received m.erely as euggestions for consideration. Accordingly it is a fact, that 
my final opinion was against an executive during good behavior, on account of 
the increased danger to the public tranquility incident to the election of a magis- 
trate of his degree of permanency, in the plan of a constitution which I drew up 
while the convention was sitting, and which 1 communicated to Mr. Madison 
about the close of it, perhaps a day or two after, tlie office of president has no 
longer duration than for three years. 

** This plan was predicated upon these bases : — 1. That the political principles 
©{ the people of this country would endure notliipg but a repub^caD governajefst. 



80 



THE OLIVE BHANCH. 



2. That in the aetual situation of the country, it was itself right and proper that 
the republican theory should have a fair and full trial. 3. That, to such a trial 
it was essential that the governinent sliould be so constructed as to give it ail the 
energy and the stability reconcilable with the principles of that theory. — These 
were the genuine sentiments of my heart : and upon tiiem 1 then acted. 

I sincerely hope that it may not hereafter be discovered, that through want 
of sufficient attention to the last idea,^ tiie experiment of republican go\ rnnient, 
even in this country, has not been as complete, as saLisfactory, and as deciiive 
tjis could be wished. 

Very^tru^y, dear sir, 

Your friend and servant, 

A. HAMILTON.^ 

TixMoTHY Pickering, Es^, 

In the conSict of opinion that arose in the convention, there 
was a most imperious necessity for a spirit of compromise, in 
order to secure success to its labours. — The tenacity of some 
leading men^ of adverse opinions, had nertrly rendered the ef- 
fort abortive. According to Luther Martin, Esq. one of the 
Mar} iand delegates, the convention was several times on the 
^^^tvf^ of adjournment, witLout fi^Jfilnfifi: t]»e object of their ap- 
pointment. But the good fortune of the nation |)revailed: and 
after a session of about four monthss, the constitution was finally 
agreed upon, submitted to public discussions and joyfully ac- 
ce])ted by the American people. 

The federal party immediately took the reins, and adminis- 
tered the government of the United States for twelve years. — 
During this period, its want of sufficient energy, audits danger 
from the state governments, were frequent sulfjects of impass- 
ioned complaint. Every man who opposed the measures of the 
administration, of what kind soever they were, or from whatev- 
er motives, was stigmatized as a disorganizer and a jacobin. — 
The last term involved the utmost extent of human atrocity. 
A jacobin w as, in fact, an enemy to social order — to the rights 
of property— to religion— to niQrals — and ripe for rapine and 
spoil. 

As far as laws could apply a remedy to the alledged feeble-^ 
ness of the general government, the reigning party sedulously 
endeavoured to remqve the defect. They fenced round the 
constituted authorities, as I have stated, with an alien and sedi- 
tion law. By the former, they could banish from our shores 
obnoxious foreigners whose period of probation had not expired. 
By the latter, every libel against the government, and e^erv 
unlawful atttempt to oppose its measures, were subject to pun- 
ishment, more or less severe, in proportion to its magnitude. 

The alien law was not, I believe, ever carried into operalioii. 
It was hung up m terrorcm over several foreigners, who, in the 
language of the day, ivere rank jacobins, and of couiTse enemies. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



81 



of God and man. But the case was far different with the sedi- 
tion Idw. Several individuals could bear testimony from ex- 
perience, to the severity with which its sanctions were enforced. 
Some cases occured, of a tragi-comical kind, particularly one in 
New-Jersey, in which the culprit wus found guilty and punish^ 
ed, under this law, for the simple wish that the wadding of a 
gun, discharged on a festival day, had made an inroad into, or 
singed the posteriors of Mr. Adams, then president of the Uni- 
ted States. 

But every thing in this sublunary world is liable to revofc 
tion. This is proverbially the case with power in a republican 
government. The people of the United States changed their 
rulers. By the regular course of flection, they withdrewMhe 
reins from the hands of the federalists, and placed them in those 
of the democrats. 

This was a most unexpected revolution to the federalists. — 
It wholly changed their views of the government. It has been 
asserted in England, that a tory in place, becomes whig 
when out of place — and that a whig when provided v^ ith a place, 
becomes a tory. And it is painful to state that too many 
among us act the same farce. The government, which 
administered by themselves, was regarded as miserably fee}>l# 
and inefficient, became, on its transition, arbitrary and despotic ; 
notwithstanding that among the earliest acts of thenewincum- 
bentSj was ihe repeal not merely of the alien and sedition laws, 
bat of some of the most obnoxious and oppressive taxes ! 

Under the effects of these new and improved political views^ 
a most virulent warfare was begun against their successors.—' 
The gazettes patronized by, and devoted to federalism, were un- 
ceasing in their efforts to degrade, disgrace, and defame the ad- 
ministration. All its errors were industriously magnified, and 
ascribed to the most perverse and wricked motives. Allegations 
wholly unfounded, and utterly improbable, were reiterated in 
regular succession. An almost constant and unvarying oppo= 
feition was maintained to all its measures^ and hardly ever was 
there a substitute proposed for any of them. There was not 
the slightest allowance made for the unprecedented and con- 
vulsed state of the world. And never was there more ardor and 
energy displayed in a struggle between two hostile nations, than 
the opposition manife&ted in their attacks upon the adrainistra^ 
tion. The awful, and lamentable, and ruinous consequences 
of this warfare, and its destruction of the vital interests of 
^^ation, will fully appear in the sequeL 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



CHAPTER X. 

British Orders in Council^ November 1 793. Enforcement of Ihc 
Rule (fn5Q, General clamour throughout the United States, 

As the difficulties and dangers of our country Imve s])rung 
from the beliigerent invasions of our rights, I shall commence 
the consideration of them with the Brisish order of 1793. 

At that period, during the administration of general Wash- 
ington, the following order was issued by the British privy 
councii : — 

George R. Additional instruction, to all ships of war, privateers, fic. 

*' That they shall stop apid detain aU ships laden with goods, the produce of 
amy coiony belonging to France, or carrying provisions or other supplies for the? 
use of such colonies j and shall bring the same, with their cargoes, to legal ad- 
judication in our courts of admiralty. 

By his majesty's command, 
Signed, Henry Duxdas.*"^ 

IN'ov. 6, 1703. 

This order was a most lawless invasion cf our rights, almost 
unprecedented in extent, and incapable of pleading in its de- 
fence the right of retaliation, so hacknied and worn so thread- 
bare since that period. In a few weeks it swept the seas of our 
eommerce. Hundreds of our vessels were captured : and many 
of our merchauts, who had no more anticipation of such a sys- 
tem, than of an attack on their vessels by the subjects of the 
emperor of China, were absolutely reduced to bankruptcy.— 
The annals of Europe for the preceding century furnish no 
measure more unjustifiable^. 

The circumstances attend ing^ it very highty aggravated the 
outrage, li was issued so clandestinely, and with such an ex- 
traordinary degree of secrecy, that the first account of its exist- 
ence that reached the London exchange, was conveyed with 
the details of the captures it authorized and occasioned.. And 
the American minister at the court of St. James', was unable 
to procure a copy of it till the 2^th of December. 

This lawless procedure excited universal indignation iu the 
United States. There w-as a general clamor for w^ar amoag all 
parties. Several very violent measures were moved and deba- 
ted in Oongress — among the rest the sequestration of all British 
property in the United States, for tl)e purpose of indemnifying 
our merchants. This, if my memory do not deceive me, was 
brought forward by Jonathan Daytqu, of New Jersey^ a leading 
mm amoBg the federalistse 



THTE OLIVE BRANCH. 



While Congress was engaged in debating on various modes of 
procuring redress, the president arrested it in its career, by the 
> nomination of Judge Jay as minister extraordinary, to seek re- 
dress from the British government. 

This eventuated in the celebrated treaty A\hich bears that 
minister's name, against which volumes of denunciations were 
published by the democrats, with numberless gloomy and terri- 
fying predictions, on nearly the \YhoIe of which, as 1 have alrea- 
dy stated, time has stamped the seal of false prophecy. 

From this period till the year 1805, the ccllisions between 
the two nations were inconsiderable^ 

The United States were in a most enviable state of prosper- 
ity in the years 1800, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. No nation ever enjoy- 
ed greater happiness. The trade of the country, and particular- 
ly its exports had most wonderfully increased. 

Durirg the first four years of gejierai Washington's adminis- 
tration, the whole value of the exports from this country, foreign 
r.nd domestic, was below 100,000,000 dollars ; whereas during 
the years 1803, 4, 5, and 6, they were more than tireble that 
i^mount. 

Extorts. Foreign. Domestic. Total. 

](>^3 13,594,000 42,20«.G00 5j,800,000 

1304 36,231,000 4!. 468,000 77,699,000 

1305 ^3, 179,000 42,387,000 95.5Cf>,000 

1306 60,283,000 41,-253,C00 101,5ii6.000- 



163,237,000 It)7,3l4,000 330,601,000 



The foreign articles w^ere principally the productions of the 
colonies of the enemies of Great Britain ; and their amount ex- 
cited her jealousy in -a high degree, and led her in the summer 
of 1805, to adopt the rule of the war of 1756, which rendered 
illegal any commerce carried on by a neutral, with the colonies 
cf a beliigereiit, during war, which had not been permitted 
during peace. This rule was carried into operation, without 
any previous notice, whereby our vessels and property to an 
irfimense amount w ere seized— carried into British ports— -tried 
and condemned. 

A circumstance attended this transaction, w^hich greatly ag- 
gravated its injustice. It was in direct hostility witj^i previous 
decisions of the British courts of admiralty, which had legalized 
in the clearest and most explicit manner, the trade now pro- 
scribed and subjected to condemnation. 

In order to display the gross impropriety of this procedure of 
tjie British government, and its utter inconsistency with their 
preceding cojiduct aad decfaions; I annex a gtatem^ent of tbe 



64 



THE OLIVE BRANCH* 



report of the king's advocate, on an application made to him ii; 
March, 1801, at the instance of Rufus King, Esq our minister 
at the court of St. James', on certain cases wherein thi§ rule 
of 1756 v*as attempted to be enforced. 

" It is now distinctly understood, and has been repeal edly so decided by tiie 
<^hi<rh court ofappeal, that rrT^THE PRODUCE OF THE COLO?^IES OF 

THE ENEMY MAY B^: IMPORTED BY A IVEUTRAL INTO HJS 
**OWN CWNTRY, AND MAY BE RE EXPORTED FROM THENCE, 
*^ EVEN TO THE MOTHER-COUNTRY OF vSLCH COLONY; AND IN 
*'L]KE MANNER rrpTHE PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURES OF 
*'THE MOTHER Cui NTRY MAY, IN THIS CIRCUITOUS MODE, 

LEGALLY FIND THEIR \YAY TO THE COLONIES. The direct trade,. 

however, between the mother-country and its colonies, has not, I apprehend, 

been recognized as legal, either by his majesty's governmebt, or by his tribu- 

nais. 

" What is a direct trade, or what amounts to an intermediate Importation into 
" the neutral country, may sometimes be a question of some difficulty. A gene- 
'* rcil dennition of either, applicable to all casefc, cannot well be laid down. The 
" question must depend upon tiie particular circumstances of each case. Perhaps 
*' the mere touching; in the neutral country, to take fi esh clearances, may prop- 
■ " erly be considered as a fraudr.lcnt evasion, and is in effect the direct ti-ade ; but 

the liigh court of admiralty iias expressly decided (and 1 see no reason to exprtct 
" that the court of appeals will vary the rule) that rj^^Ianding the goods and 

payhigihe duties in the neulrcl rmintry^ breaks the cuntinuity of the voyage nnd 
** 15 such un importation as legalises the trade^ although the goods he re-shipped i?i 

the some vessel^ and on account of the same neutral proprietors^ aiid be/orrvardtd 

J'or sale to the mother country or the colony.''^ 

An extract from this report, containing tiie foregoing passage, was transmit- 
ted by the duke of Portland, in a letter of the 3Uth March, 1801, to the lords 
commissioners of the admiralty. His grace's letter concludes thus : " In order, 
therefore to put a stop to the inconveniences arising from these erroneous senten- 
ces of the vice admiralty courts, i have the honor to signify to your lordships the 
king's pleasure, that a communication of the doctrine laid down in the said report 
should be immediately made by your lordsliips to the several judges presiding ia 
them, setting forth what is held to be the law upon the subject by the superior 
tribunals, for their future guidance and direction."* 

The depredations aboTe stated excited universal indignation- 
throughout the United States. The mercantile part of the 
commnnily were exasperated to the utmost degree. The ad- 
ininistration was stigmatized as equally regardless of the honor 
and the interest of the nation, for not resisting these pretensions 
and not procuring redress for the depredations. A recurrence 
to the gazettes of that period will show that the federal party 
was then clamorous for war, if redress could not be procured for 
grievances incomparably less, than those that finally provoked 
ifie late declaration of war. But it may be said, and with some 
degree of truth, that news-papers are an equivocal critericm of 
the public opinion. This I admit. And I shall lay before the 
reader other and most unerring proofs of the mercantile temper 
of this period. 

* Letter frona Me&srg. Moriioe and Piukney to lord Howick, dated August 20*,- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



SB 



Meetings of the merchants were held in almost all the com- 
mercial towns and cities in the United States. The subject 
was eloquently discussed. Stroni^ memorials were agreed u[)on5 
urccing the president and congress to adopt such measures as 
might be necessary to procure redress. In these memorials, 
which were couched in the most emphatieal language, the [ire- 
tensions ofEugland were treated as not far removed from actual 
piracy* — as opening a door to the most flagrant frauds and im- 
positions — as tiaworthy of a great and magnanimous people — 
aud as derogatory to the reputation and honor of an independ- 
ent nation to submit ^o. The administration was, in the mosb 
impassioned style invoked to resist such pretensions ; and the 
memorialists generally pledged tlumstlves niosi solemnly to sup- 
port it in the attempt. As 1 shall devote a seperste chapter [the 
18ih] to the consideration of the policy of the mercantile part 
of the nation, I shall not here inquire how far these pledges were 
redeemed. 

These niemorials are immensely important in the formation 
of a correct estimate of the policy of our government. I shall, 
therefore, make very copious extracts from them. They are 
most precious dociments, and present " a round unvarnished 
tale" of the outrages experienced by x^merican commerce, and 
the extravagant pretensions, as well as the law less depredations 
of Great Britain. 



CHAPTER XL 

Exiracis from the Boston MemoriaL Strong Style. British pre 
tetisions destructive of the navigation of luutral nations. Duty 
of the United States to oppose them. Energetic call for adequate 
measures to protect commerce* 

The Boston merchants, aflet* glancing at the vexations, in- 
sults and barbarities, suffered from France and Spain, pass on 
to the consideration of the grievances inflicted by the British. 
They state that, 

" It ip their object in the present memorial, to confine their animadversions to 
frp THE MORE ALARMING, BECAUSE MORE NUMEROUS AND 
Fx TENSIVE DETE^^TIONS AND CONDEMNATIONS OF AMERICAN 
VESSELS EV GREAT BRITAIN j r.nJ to advert to the principles recently 

* ** It cannot become the integrity of a gr eat nation, to prey upon the unpi'oUct- 
td property of a f riind.lv pirn tr.^^ 

" • (Boston Memorial.) 



86 



THE OLIVE BHANCH. 



avowed, and adopted by her courts, relative to neutral trade in articles of colonial 
produce. Principles, which, if admitted, or practised upon in all the latitude, 
which may fairly be inferred t© be intended, would be HT/^ destructive to the 
ncivigation, and RADICALLY JxMPAIR THE Ai^jST LUCRAl IVE 
CO?*lMERCE Of OL'R COLIVTRY. Principles that had been virtually 
abandoned subsequently tu their first avowal ; even during an intermediate aiid 
inveterate ivar^ and daring the prosecution of a trade nhich is mn: interdicted 
and alledged to be illegal, but which trade was at that time sanctioned by the 
promulgated decisions of her courts, and by an official communication from one 
of the highest organs of the very government, which is now attempting to destroy 
it, and with its suppression to ANNIHILATE OR GREATLY DIMIN- 
ISH THE COMMERCE OF x>EUTRAL NATIONS 

There is great cause to apprehend, that the British government mean to set 
wp as a principle, that she has a right to interdict all commerce by neutrals, to 
the ports of her enemies, which ports had not been opened previously to the 
commencement of hostilities" j — that if she permits a trade with them in any de- 
gree, she has a right to prescribe the limits of it ; to investigate the intention of 
the parties prosecuting it ; and if such intention be not the actual disposition of 
the property in the neutral country, to consider the merchandize, even after the 
importation into such country, after having been landed therein, warehoused, 
and the duties paid on it, as J^^^nly in the sta^e of a continued and direct voyage 
from the colony to the mother cuuntryj or vice versa ; and therefore illegal, and 
liable to condemnation. 

" In some instances, your memorialists find Q;^7w*y vessels^ on their Jirsi passage 
from the United Stntes to Europe, arrested, carried oxiiof their course, and injuri- 
ously detained under the vexatious pi-etence of a continuity of voyage from the 
country or colony qf a belligerent. In another instance they have witnessed a 
vessel captured and condenmed under the most frivolous p^ ttexiy^ when in the 
prosecution of an acknowledged and permitted trade, under circumstances which 
bani?hed every shadow of d<?ubt, as to the real desiiriGtion of the vessel^ the iden- 
tity of the oivncrs^ or the actual infcntian of the parties. 

These few instances they have thought it needful to notice, in order to 
demonstrate, that unless the present disposition of the British admiralty courts, 
and navy officers, can be counteracted arid removed^ a widely dispersed and 
unprotected commerce, extending to everv region of the dobe, will only serve 
fTr' TO INVITE DEPREDATION,' TO BANKRUPT OURSELVES, 
AxVD ENRICH OTHERS, UNTIL SUCH COMMERCE BE ^SWEPT 
FROM THE FACE OF TPIE OCEAN, and leave nothing in its stead, but 
sentiments of hostility and acts of contenticn. 

tacit sub7nission to pretensions thus lofty and comprehensive, but which your 
rnem&riidists trud are most (f them untenable, n'ouldt they conceive, be [TT^' AN 
ABANDONMENT OF RIGHTS OPENLY RECOGNIZED, AND A DE> 
RELICTION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMERCIAL INTER- 
ESTS OF OUR COUNTRY. 

*' Reason, and the most powerful ccnsiderations of equity, enjoin it as 
{rj> A DUTY ON THE UNITED STATES TO OPPOSE THESE PRE- 
'J ENSlONS ; for circumstanced as these states are, possessing an immensely 
extended Bnd fertile territory, producing mostly the necessaries of life, which, 
with the merchandize obtained from abroad by the industry and enterprise 
of her citizens, she is obliged tc barter^ or furnish in payment for importations 
of foreign produce or manufactures : {^^^ i' behoves her strenuously to contend 
for the right of an open cmnmerce in iimocent articles beiiveen other nations that 
arS' willing to accord it, and herself ; for if the right be not both claimed and 
admitted, scarcely any of the European powers can in future be engaged in war- 
fare without making ike United States, in. opposition both to her efforts and wishes- 
EITHER A VICTIM OR PARTY IN THE CONTEST. 
Your memosialists conceive .these pretensions aSbmi constant sources of 
collisioB, continually tending to involve these states in the issue of European wars, 
and would oblige the government, on the occurrence of such of such wars, speed- 
ily to unite with one or otiier of the parties, in order that the commerce of t^e 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



country miglit lawfully avail itself of some decree of security, froiii tlie protection 
which its own force, and that of its allies, coaid arfbi d. To this state of things, 
your memorialists believe it can neitlier be the interest nor wish of the British 
'government to reduce our countiy. 

The most tenacious advocates for the rights of bellijrerents admit, that during • 
war, n^entrals have a riglit to enjoy in the utmost latitude, the trade to which 
they had been accustomed in times of peace. Ts'ow if the belligerent has the right 
tn blockade an extended ^^ea-coast, and to exctude rmdrah from, perhaps, 
fifly ifiJJ^ermt po'^is, {as nas the case nitk the p rench ports in the channd during 
ike last nnTy) how can the neutral enjoy his usual peace traae in its greatest 
latitude, unless this deprivation is balanced ijy another trade, whiJi is opened to 
him during the war? — As to the inquisitorial rigiit of search into the ownership of 
n<iutral property set up by Great Britain, and the doctrine appended to it, that 
a neutral importer shall not agdin export his goods, but that tney shall be first 
alienated and passed into the pcasesi^ion of others— vour memorisili ^ts believe them 
to be UNSOUND IN POINT OF PRINCIPLE OFFENSIVE IN PRAC- 
TICE, AND NUGATORY IN EFFECT. 

" Your ntemoriaiists ti ouid with reluctance believe that the sacred tribunals of 
justice have become subservient to motives of political expediency, more especially 
in a nation whosejudiciai proceedings have frpiiuont!/ deserved and commanded 
the respect of all civilized couTitries. Yet they knov/ uot e.siiy hew to reconcile 
on on any othtr grounds, the contradictory proceedings of the British admiralty 
courts, during the last and present war. 

" At any rate, whether the doctrine were sound or not, or whether it injured 
Great Britain or not, it cannot become the integrity and magnanimity of a great 
and powerful nation, at once, £nd without notice, to reverse her rnie of conduct 
towards other states, and rrj^ TO PREY UPON THE UNPROTECTED 
PROPERTY OF A FRILiSDLY PO ER, the extension of whose commerce 
had been invited by the formal avowal of her intentions, and piosecuted^ under a 
reliance on her good faith, and from the confidence reposed, that her courts, 
tmiforra to their principles, would never be influenced by the thne-serviog politics 
©f the moment. 

** In all events, fully reiving that the subject of our dilFarences with Great Britain 
vf ill receive the due considtratiori of government ; and that such measures will in 
consequence be promptly adopted^ as will tend to DISEMBARRASS OUR 
COMMERCE— ASSERT OFR RIGHTS— AND SUPPORT THE DIG- 
NITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

*' Your memorialists have the honor to remain, in behalf of their constitueDts 
and themselves, most respectfully. 

James Lloyd, jua. John CoflBn Jones, 

David Green, George Cabot, 

Arnold Welles, Thomas H. Perking. 

David Sears, 

Bosion, Jan. 20, 1806. 

To this memorial I request the particular attention of the 
reader. It was the act of the merchants of Boston in general. 
The seven gentlemen whose signatures are subscribed, were 
merely a committee to reuresent the mercantile corns. No 
man can pretend to form a correct opinion on the conduct of the 
two parties that divide the nation, without being fully possessed 
of the tenor of this and the other similar documents. Besides 
the contents, I wish two of the signatures to be most particularly 
adverted to. They are those of George Cabot and James Lloyd, 
jun» who have both acted conspicuous parts in the recent affairs 
of the United States. The former gentleman was a member of 



88 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



the convention at Hartford, ^\hcse prof^^ssed object was fo form 
some association amona; the commercial siates for the ^'prctcc ' .on 
of commerce^'* against the hostility of government. 

These gentlemen explicitly state, that unless the present 
disposition^''^ that is, the disposition in 1805, (for as the remon- 
strance was drafted in January, 1806, it must refer to the 
proceedings of the preceding year) 

Of the Britiiyh admiralty courts, and navy offic^^rs can be counternct- 
^(1 and removed, a widely dispersed and iniprotecied annmerce, ertendhifr 
io every region cf the glube^ will only serve to invite cepredation, to 
BANKRUPT OURSELVES, A]VT> ENRICH OTHERS, Until incu consmerce bs 
swept from the face of the ocean." 

They further state, that 

** A tacit suhmission io pretensions thus lofty, u'o->(ld be an chandonment 
•f rights openly recognized^ and a dereliction of the most imfoht- 

AKT C0M31ERCIAL INTERESTS OF OUR COUNTRY.*' 

And they add — 

Reason and the most powerful considerations of equity enjoin it as 
m duty on the United Slates io oppose these prttensions.'^^ 

And that 

These preiensioiis are *' unsound in point cf principle^ offensive in prac- 
tice and nugatory in effecU^ 

And to cap the climax, they explicitly charge Great Britain, 
with something not far from piracy, or 

PREYING UPON THE UNPROTECTED PROPERTY OF A 
FRIENDLY POWER. 

They and their friends then call upon the government 

" Promptly to adopt such measures as might disembarrass our commerce 
— assert our rights — and support the dignity of the United Siates. 

This call, so strong and so solemn, implied with equal streno;th 
and solemnity a pledge of support. It behovr^s these ^>'eutleniea 
and their friends, who are now, for that pur ^os?, called on jub- 
licly in the face of their country, to point out ^ny one instance 
in which they lent their aid to the governmeni in the iuirsuit of 
redress, or redeemed the solemn pledge they hejd out to tlieir 
country and to the world. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Extracts from Ncw-Yorh Memorial. Equally explicit and pointed 
with that from Boston, TJie pretensions of Great Biritain a 
violation of the law of nations, A strong and peremptory call 
for rcsistar^e on the part of the government. Solemn pledge of 
siippoH. XiOug and respectable list of signers. 

** They have been suddenly confounded by unexpected intelligence of the ar* 
■rcst-aiion^ on the high seas^ of a large portion of their property, rckich had been em- 
barked with the mohi nnsuspccihig eonfidence. The feelings of your memorialists 
are not only excited by the losses wliich they have actually sustained, in conse- 
quence of a measure insusceptible of previous calculation, but, also, from the state 
of uncertainty in which they are placed with respect to future commercial opera- 
tions. 

" In the recent: decision, which prohibits an importer of colonial produce frotn 
exporting it to Europe, they perceive with concern, cither a nu-gaiory and veoca- 
lious regulation^ or a meditated blew at jvhat Ihey detm an inco7iiestible and valua^ 
ble right. 

*' If the arrival of a ship in the country to whicli it belongs ; the landing of the 
cargo : the inspection of the custom-house; the payment or security of duties ; do 
not tej'minate a voyage, then vie confess our ignorance on a point, which, never 
haviug been before questioned, has been assumed by as as an acknowledged truth. 
Jf the entry for e.xportatlon ; tlie embarkation of merchandize ; the re-inspectioa 
of tiie custom-house ; the bond for securing a delivery in a foreign country ; and 
a public clearance do net indicate the commencement of a new voyage — then we 
are yet to learn the mear.i[:»g of the expression. 

" But these embarrassments, though perplexing and vexatious, are not those 
which principally occasion OKr solicitude ; we are compelled to consider the late 
decisions of the British tribunals as preliminary steps towards a system of controlling 
the importations and exportations of colonial productions^ and thereby AiVNIfll- 
LATIING THE MOST LUCilATlVE BRANCHES OF OUR COMMERCE. 
If we owed this trade solely to the favor of Great Britain, still we might aek, 
what urgent motive, what imperious necessity, required that the favor should be 
resumed at a period rchen our commerce nas spread over the ocean, and when a 
chauge so essential might destroy its securit5% and subject us to incalculable losses. 
V»^e deny, however, that the rights of commerce, as claimed by us, are to be 
deemed favors ; on the contrary, if the Uiw of nations is other than a temporary 
rule, prescribed by an arbitrary nill^ and enforced by power ^ then rce appeal to its 
most universal and inviolable principlt in our defence. This principle is, thatY^e 
g'iods cif a TiCutral^ consisting of articles not contraband of rvar, in a neutral vessel^ 
employed in a direct trade betrveen neutral ccuniries and ports of a belligerent 
country not invested or blockaded, are protected. 

" Whatever theoretical opinions may heretofore have been adva-aced, there ba^^ 
existed no such practical rule, [as that of 1756] which, under the unnaralleled 
circumstnncp'^ of the present war, MuST JNFALLIBLV DESTROY THEr 
COMMERCE OF THIS COUNTRY. 

With these preliminary facts in view, we request permissiGn to detail some 
of the most imporcant consequences of the assumeil ^ule, that neutrals may 
be restrained in time of war to their accustomed trade in time of peace. The 
injustice of such a rule, in relation to the United States, will be most manifest ; 
the indlvidii:^.Is employed in commerce would not alone be affected; all 
the internal relations of our comiiry would he disturbed ; the interests of 
those districts which are most remote frem ovr principal ports, would, irb^ 
proportioniq their dependem^e on foreign supplies, btmost severely depressed* 



«0 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

** If Great Britain permits commerce between her subjects and ike tahnits of her 
enemies^ may we not, with the consent of ttiose colonies, participate in the same 
commerce ? If our commerce with the enemies of Great Britain may now be 
confined to the system established in time of peace, may we not apprehend that 
the principle will be retaliated in respect to our commerce with the colonies of 
Great Britain ? In that case, WHAT CAN ENSUE BUT WAR, TILLAGE 
AND DEVASTATION? 

** These are not imaginary suppositions. They illustrate the most important 
principles of our commerce. They evince the necessity of a circuitous trade, to 
enable us to realize the great value of exports of our own native productions, by 
which, alone, we acquire the power to liquidate the balance against us, in our 
commerce with Great Britain : they demonstrate, that the position against nhich 
Yve conte7idy is not a rule of the law of nations. THE LAW OF NATIONS 
-ORDAINS NO RULE, WHICH IS UNEQUAL AND UNJUST 

It is, however, with much surprise, that we have recently discovered that 
the very circumstances upon which our hopes of security were reposed, h ive been 
urged as arguments to ju-tify an invasion of our rights ; and that HAVING 
TOTALLY SUPPRESSED THE EXTERNAL COMMERCE OF HER 
ENEMIES, GREAT BRITAIN IS NOW COUNSELLED TO APPPRO- 
PRIATE TO HERSELF THAT OF HER FRIENDS. 

*' Surely the security of neutral rights ought not to diminish, as their value is 
augmented. Surely a maritime preponderancy which enables its possessor to 
blockade any of the ports of its enemies, conveys no just title to a monopoly of 
the commerce of the world. 

*' In the list of our complaints we cannot forbear to enumerate the humiliating 
and oppressive conduct of ships of war in the vicinity of our coasts and harbors^ 
We respect the principle and emulate the conduct of Great Britain, in regard to 
her own jurisdiction : and ne nisk merely to claim for ourselvet the same measure 
qfjustice^ nhich she exacts from others. 

' " This view of the subject, .while it excite* our anxiety, furnishes, also, a re- 
gource for our hopes. We wish only for justice : and believing that a commercial 
nation which disregards justice, thereby undermines the citadel of her power ^ we 
rely on the effect of mutual interests and wishes in promoting a cordial explanation 
and fair adjustment of every cause of misunderstanding ; in particular ne rely on 
the government of our country, THAT OUR RIGHTS W^LL NOT BE 
ABANDONED, and that NO ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF USURP- 
ATION WILL EVER BE DERn ED FROM OUR ACQUIESCENCE. 

" Your memorialists conclude with remarking, that they deem the present 
situation of public affairs to be peculiarly critical and perilous ; and such as requires 
ull the prudence, the nisdom, and ike energy qf the government, SUPPORTED 
BY THE CO-OPERATION OF ALL GOOD CITIZENS, By mutual ex- 
ertions, under the benign influence of Providence upon this hitherto favored na- 
tion, we hope the clouds which thi eaten to obscure its prosperity may be dispelled. 
AND WE PLEDGE OUR UNITED SUPPORT IN FAVOR OF ALL THE 
•MEASURES ADOPTED TO VINDICATE AND SECURE THE JUST 
JilGHTS OF OUR COUNTRY. 

IVew-Yorhj Dec. 28, 1805. 

Signed on behalf of the merchants, by 

John Broome, chairmaja, Elisha Coit, 

.Oliver Wolcott, John B. Murray, 

John Franklin, lieffert Lefferts, 

Isaac Lawrence, Samuel A Laurence, 

Thomas Carpenter, Robert Lenox, 

John Taylor, John Murray, 

Henry J. Wyckoff, George Griswold, 

George M. Woolsey, Henry Post, 

David M. Clarkgon, John R. Livingston, 

Goelet Hoyt, William Henderson^ 

Papiel Ltj41ow. Accbibald Gracie^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Samuel Russel, 
James Arden, 
William Lovet, 
Edmond Seaman, 
James Maxwellj 
Benj. Bailey, 
Thomas Farmer, 
W. Edgar, 
Wynant Van Zand^ 
Charles Wright, 
John De Peyster, 
J. Clason, 
Wm, Clarkson, 
John B. Coles, 



Benjamin G. MinturO, 
William Bayard, 
Gulian Ludlow, 
Eben. Stevens, 
Rensselaer Havens, 
Peter Shermerhorn, 
William W^. Woolsey, 
James Scott, 
John p. Mumford, 
Charles M'Evers, ji^tr, 
John Kane, 
John Clendining^ 
Wm. Codflia^i 



CHAPTER XIHo 

Extracts from iJie Memorial of the Merchants of Philudelphuj^. 

I PROCEED to state the sentiments of the merchants of the 
great city of Philadelphia, on this invasion of their rights and 
Uiose of the nation. We shall see that they felt the same sense 
of the injustice of these measures, with their brethren of Boston 
and New-York — made the same strong requisition for protection 
— and gave an equal pledge of full support. They state that a 
submission to these claims of Great Britain, would produce 
the nan of individuals — tlie destruction of their commerce— and 
the degradation of their country P 

To prevent these mighty evils, they required the interference 
of the government, which, at their requisition, did interfere. 
We shall see the result. 

" A jealousy of our enterprise and prospei-Uy has excited a design of checking 
Vie commercial growth of our country^ the fruit of which has been an attempt to 
innovate upon ancient and approved principles, and introduce unheard of articleg- 
and provisioEB into the code of public Jaw. 

** It becomes your memorialists to state, that the pressure of these evils has 
greatly increased, and that others, of even superior magnitude, havf arisen, whick 
assume a most alarming and distressing form. What were considered as irregular- 
ities, insusceptible of prevention, have, by continuance and success, strengthened 
into regular and systematic plunder. What were regarded as mischiefs incident 
to a state of war, temporary though not remediless, are vindicated upon the 
ground of right ; and their practice is reiterated under the authority of goveri;= 
ment, and receives the solemn sanction of the law. 

T^^ey moreover foresee, in the prevalence of the principles, and the continu- 
ance of the practices alluded to, nothing but THE RUJN OF INDIVIDUALS, 
THE DESTRUCTION OF THEIR COMMERCE, AND THE DEGRA-. 
DATION OF THEIR COUNTRY. 

** Could the judfiment, or even the charity of your memorialists see, in the new 
doctrines of the British Court, nothing but the revival and enforcement of an 
ancient and established principle, which friendship had relaxed, oi; favor permitted^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



to slilmber, t'h^^ flight regret the departed good, but could impute no injasticc lo 
the hand that withdrew it. They are struck, however, with the novelty cf these 
dcctrines j their lnequitocal hostility to neutral interests and rights ; 

THEIR inconsistency WITH FORMER DECLARATIONS OF THEIR xMINISTRY, Hod 

decisions of their courts ; and with the extraordiuary time and manner of their 
•annunciation. 

^ That policy, not justic3— that interest, not fair and r.dmitted precedent, have 
given birth to the principle, that neutrals should be restricted to the same com- 
merce with a belligereHt, which was allowed to them by that power in time of 
peace, is conceived by your menioiialists to be true. ' Incompatible with the 
general freedom of neutral commerce, this rule has the sanction of no commori 
observance by civilized nations, and cannot bear that faithful test Avhich e\ ciy fair 
w.nd righteous principle of the law of nations will abide. 

" The effect of this novel principle unon neutral interests is of tjhe mo-t serious 
nnd alrarminir chavpxter. IT GOES TO NOTHiri'G SHORT OF THE DE- 
.^TRUCTiON OF iVEUTRAL COMMERCE j and from the well kuown 
neutral situation and character of the United States, to nothing short of 

IXFLICTING A MOST DEKP AND DEADLY AVOUND l-fON THEIR TRADE. 

** But your memoriaJists cannot but consider, that this principle has not tlie 
>rf'ight of a consistent and unifrjrm support by the government v, hicli professes to 
uphold it. In IcOl, the declarations of its Jiiinistry and the decisions of its courts,' 
were, unequivocally, that the produce of the colonie.'? of the enemy mjy be 
imported by a neutral into liis owrvcountrv, and be re-exported from thence, 
*^ven to the mother country of such cuiony i*' ai-d also, " that iandinoj the goods 
iiiid paying the duties in the neutral country, bi-Caks the continuity of the vovan^e, 
and is such an inipertation as legalises the trade, althoug]! the good? be re-sliipped 
in the same vessels, and on accouat of tlie same neutral proprietor:, and forwarded 
tor S'rilc to the mother country." Jn 1J^05, it is decided, that landing and paying 
■^ii^ distics docs not break the continuity of the voyage J and tliat tiie course of 
trade pointed out to the neutral, four years before, aa legal and safe, is now unsat- 
isfactory to the belligerent, and ATTE^'DED INFALLIBLY WITH CO^'- 
57ISCATIOZS^. What clear and immutable principle of the law of nations, can 
that be, your memorialists would ask, which is supported by the high court of 
admiralty, and avowed by the ministry in ISOl, and which is prostrated by the 
ministry and the high court of appeals in 1805 P Such a principle must bf 

CONSIDERED AS RATHER PARTAKING OF TllE SHIFTING CHARACTER OF CONVENIENCE, 
THAN OF THAT OF PERMANENT RIGHT AND ESTABLISHED LAW. 

The time and manner of anijouncing it accord with the principle itself. At 
a moment when mercantile enterprise, confiding in the explanations on this point 
given by the British ministry to our ambassador, was strained to tlie upmost, a 
new decision of the court of appeals is announced, and EVERY SAIL IS 
STRETCHED TO COLLECT TIIE UNWARY AMERICANS, WHO ARE 
UNSUSPECTINGLY CONFIDING IN V>'HAT WAS THE LAW OF NA- 
TIONS. 

** In the principles they have here submitted to yoi**- consideration, thev feel 
all the confidence of justice, and all the tenacity oi truth. TO SURRENDER 
THEM, THEY CONCEIVE, WOULD DEROGATE FROM THE NA- 
TIONAL CHARACTER AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED 
STATES. FROM THE JUSTICE OF GOVERNMENT THEY HOPE 
FOR THEIR AVOW^AL ; FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOVERNMENT 
THEY HOPE FOR THEIR DEFENCE ; AND FROM THE BLESSINGS 
OF HEAVEN THEY HOPE FOR THEIR ESTABLISHMENT. 

*' As citizens, they claim protection • and they conceive that the claim is 
enforced by the consideration, that from their industry and enterprise is collected 
a revenue which no nation has been able to equal, without a correspondent expense 
for the protection of the means. 

To preserve peace with all nations, is admitted, without reserve, to be both 
the interest and the policy of the Ufiited States Tiiey therefore presume to sui, 
gest, that every measure, not inconsistent with the honor of the nation, 
fey which the great ©bjects of redress and security may be atteaaed, sl ould firft b*j 



-THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



itscd. IP SUCH MEASURES PROVE INEFFECTUAL, WHATEVER 
^f\Y BE THE SACRIFICE ON THEiR PART, IT WILL EE MET 
WITH SUBMISSION. ^ But whateves measures may be pursued by Iheii 
goveroinent, your memorialists express the firmest faith, that every caution wil-, 
be used to preserve private property and mercantile credit from violationJ^ 

Thos. Fitzsimons, chairman, ^ ^ - 

John Craig, Abraham Kintzing. 

W. Sims, Philip Nicklin, 

Robert Ralston, Thomas Allibone, 

James Yard, George Latimer, 

Jacob Gerard Koch, Chandler Price, 

Thomas W. Francis, L. Clapier, 

Thomas English, Daniel W. Coxe, 

Joseph S, Lewis, Robert Wain, 

William Montgomery, Manuel Eyre, 

E. Hcbart, sec. 

The preceding list embraces decided men of both the hostile 
parties, and of various nations — Americans, English, Irisb^ 
French, and Dutch. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Extracts from the Baltmiore MemoriaL 

The memorial of the merchants of Baltimore is more diffu^ 
and argumentative than any of the preceding. It is a mo«t 
masterly composition, and may be regarded as a complete and 
unanswerable defence of neutral rights against belligerent pre- 
tensions and encroachments. Its maxims ought to be committed 
to memory by every statesman, in all countries whose interest" 
it is to preserve a neutral situation,, 

"It rvould not be desired, that the state of things ^hich Great Britain haiS 
herself prescribed, and which use and habit had rendered faaiiliar and intelligible 
to all, ghould be disturbed by oppressive innovations ; far less that the^^'^ inno- 



vations should, by r^^ uti/rannical retriV^peciion, be m^de to justify the 
seizure and conjis cation of their property y committed to the high seas. uud. c ti^ 
protection of the existing rule, and without warning of ike intended chrngt. 
In this their just hope, your memoiiellsts have been fatally disappointed. 
Tr' THEIR VESSELS AND EFFECTS, TO A LARGE AMOUNT, 
HAVE LATELY BEEN CAPTURED BY THE COMMISSIONED 
CRUISERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, upon the foundation of ttt^ NEW 
PRINCIPLES, SUDDENLY INVENTED, and applied to this habiil^l traffic ; 
and suggested and promulgated, for the first time, by sentences of condemnatien ; 
oy which [T^^ urmvoidahle ignorance has been considered as criminal, and AM 
HONOURABLE CONFIDENCE IN THE JUSTICE OF A FRlExWLY 
NATION, PURSUED WITH PENALTY AND FORFEITURE. 

*' Your memorialists are in no situation to state the precise nature of the rules 
io which their most important interests have been thus sacrificed : and it is not 
the least of their complaints against them, that ih^y are undefined and m?*- 
dejinahle ; equimcal in thdr/orm, and the Jit imtrum&TVts ^ oppression f by r^tssm 
^ ^SiT amhiguity, 

I 2 



94 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



** Your memorialists will not here stop to enquire upon what grounil of law ctf 
reason the same act h held to be legal, when couinieiiced witii one intention, and 
illegal when undertaken with another. But they object, in the strongest terms, 
against this new criterion of legality, because of its inevitable tendency to injus- 
tice J because of Q;j=' its pemliar capacity to embarrass nith seizure^ and ruin 
Tvith confiscation, iae 7vhole nf our trade nith Europe in the surplus of our coL- 
nial importations. 

" If the consequences to that tratnc were not intended to be serious, and exten- 
sive, and permanent, your memoiialists sec^rch in vain for a molive, by whicii a 
state, in amity with our own, and moreover connected \vit!i it by the ties of com- 
ino 1 interest, to whii'-h many consideratious seem to give peculiar strength, 
'has been induced to indulge in a paroxyr.n of capricious dggrasion upon 
our rights, by which it dishonours itself wit/iout promoting any of those great 
interests f)r which an enlightened natvm miy fairly be soLicitous, and which only 
a steady regard to justice can ultimately secure. When we see a powerful state, 
in possession of a commerce, of which the world afPjrds no examples, cndcn^ 
Touring to interpolate into the laws of nations casuisticA niceties ana ivayward 
distinctions, which forbid a citizen of another independent commercial country to 
export fram that country what unquestionably belongs to him, only because he iiiif- 
ported it himself, and yet allow him to sell a right of exporting it to another, 
\yhich prohibit an end, because it arises out of one intention, but pernrit it wi\en 
it arises oat of two ; — which, dividing an act into stages, search into the mind for 
a correspondent division of it in the contemplation of its author, and determine 
its innocence or criminality accordingly ; which, not denying that the property 
acquired in an authorized trafnc by neutral nations from belligei ents, may become 
incorporated into tlie national stock, and, under the shelter of its neutral charac- 
ter, thus superinduced, and still preserved, be afterwards transported to every 
cjuarter of the globe, reject the only epoch, which can distinctly mark the incor- 
poration, and point ©ut none other in its place ; — which, proposing to fix with 
accuracy and preci:<ion, the line of demarcation, beyond which neutrak are 
trespassers upon the wide domain of belligerent rights, involve every thing in 
darkness and confu?ioa ; there can be but one opinion as to the purpose which 
all this is to accomplish. 

For the loss und damage which capture^ bHngs along with it, British 
coicrti rf prize grant no adfquate indemnity. Redress to any extent is difficult— 
to a competent extent impossible. And even tiie casts wtiich an iniquitous seiz^ 
lire compels a neutral merchant to incur, in the defence of his violated rights, be- 
fore their own tribunals, are seldom deereed, and never paid. 

*' The reasons upon which Great Britain assumes to herself a right to interdict 
lo the independent nations of the earth, a commercial intercourse with the colo- 
jBies of bet' enemies (out of the relaxation of which pretended right has arisen tlie 
distinction in li«r eourt.s, between the American trade from the colonies to the 
United States, and from the same colonies to Europe,) will, we are confidentiv 
persuaded, BE REPELLED WITH FIRMNESS AND EFFECT BY OUR 
GOVERNMENT. 

** She forbids us from transporting in our vessels, as in peace we could, the pro- 
ptrty of her enemies ; enforces against us a rigorous list of contraband ; d/ims up 
the great channels of our ordinary trade ; abridges, trammtls, arul obstructs jvhai 
^he permits us to prosecute ; and then refers us to our accustomed traffic in time of 
peace for the criterion of our comrhercial rights, JN ORDER TO JUSTIFY 
THE CONSUMM ATION OP THAT RUlN, WITH WHICH OUR LAW- 
FUL COMMERCf: IS MENACED BV HER MAXIMS AND HER 
CONDUCT. 

" This princij)le, therefore, cannot be a sound one. It wants uniformity and 
<ionsistency ; ia partial, uneqiial, and delusive. It makes every thing bend to the 
tights of war, while it afiects to look back to, and to recognize, the state of things 
in peace, as the foundation and the measure of the rights of neutrals. Profess- 
ing to respect the e^stablished and habitual trade of the nations at peace, it af« 
fords no shadow of security for any part of it. Professing to be an equitable 
.^aadard for the aecertaimii^eiit of j^satrai rigiits, it deprives th^sa qf all body and 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



9ii; 



substance, and leaves them only a plausible and unreal appearance of magni'ud^ 
and importance. It delivers t!iem over, in a word, to the mercy of the slates at 
war, as objects of legitimate hostility ; and ^hile it seems to define, does in fact 
extinguish them. Such is the faithtul pict-ire of the theory and practical opera- 
tions of this doctrine. 

*' The pernicious qualities of this doctrine are enhanced and aggravated, as 
from its nature might be expected, bv the fact tha^ {TT=' GREAT BRI TAlif 
GIVES A O NOTICE OF THE TIME WH}^. OR THE CIRCUM- 
STANCES I iX WHICH, SHE MEANS TO APPLY, AND ENFORCE^ 
IT* Her orders of tlie 6th November, 1703, by which the seas were swept of 
our vessels and effects, ivere.for the first time, announced by the skips ofnar^ and 
■privateers., by which they ivere carHed into execution. 

'* The late decisions of her courts, which are in the tme spirit of this doctrine, 
and are calculated to restore it in practice, to that high tone of severity, which 
nailder decisions had almost concealed from the world, came upon us by surprise ; 
and the captures, of \Thich the Dutch complained, in the seven vears' war, were 
preceded by no warning. THUS IS THIS PRINCIPLE ' MOST RAPA- 
CIOUS AND OPPRESSIVE IN ALL ITS BEARINGS. Harsh and myste- 
rious in it»elf, it has always been, and ever must be, u^ed to betray nfiuti*al 
merchants into a trade, supposed to be lawful, acd then to give them up to pil- 
lage, and to luin. 

But there can be no security 7vhile a 'maligrumt and deceitful principle 
like this hangs over us. It is just what the belligerent chooses to make it, 
iuvHng, unseen, and unftlt, or visible, active, and noxxoiis. It may come abroad 
when least expected : and the moment of confidence may be the moment of des- 
truction. 

It may sleep for a time ; but no man "knows when it is to arvake^ to shed its 
baleful influence upon the commerce of the vcorld. It clotiies itj-elf. from season 
to season, in what may be called relaxations ; but again, without any previous 
iutimation to t'le deluded citizens of the neutral powers, these relaxatioas are 
suddenly laid aside, either in the whole, or in part, and the worn, of confiscation 
commences. Nearly ten months of the late war had elapsed before it announced 
ii;?eif cxt all : and, When it did so, it was in its m-Ott formidable shape, and in its 
fu-lest power and expansion. 

Toar mernorlalists feel themselves bound to state that, according to aathen- 
ikf. inforination lately received, the government of Great Britain does, at tliis 
inomcnl, grant licenses to neutral vzs^afs taking in a proportion of their cargoes 
therc^ ioprocetd on tradirig voyages io the colonies nf Spain, from which she n^uld 
t idude 1*^ ; upoji th& condition^ thai the return cargoes shall be carried to Great 
Brilmny to S7v ell the gains of her merchants, and to give her a monopoly of the 
commerce of the world. This great belligerent right, then, upon which so much 
has been supposed to depend, sir.ks into an article of barter. It is used, not as 
a hostile instriiinent wielded by a warlike state, by which her enemies are to be 
wounded, or their colonies subdued, bat as the selfish means of commercial 
aggrandisement, for -Ae impoverishment and ruin of her friends ; as an engine 
by which Great Britain is to be lifted up to a vast height of prosperity, and 
t/ie iradt rf neutrals cri-ppled, and crushed, and destroyed. Such acts are a most 
kjteiligible commentary upon the principle in question. They shew that it 
isaJiollon' and fallacious princi pie,, susceptible of the worst abuse^ and incapable 
efa.iuit and honourable application, They shew that, in the hands of a great 
x^rltime state, it is not, in its ostensible character of a weapon of hostility, that 
it is prized ; bat rather as one of the means of establishing an unbounded mono- 
^oh, by which every enterprize calculated to promote national wealth and 
po-.rer, shall be made to begin and end in Great Britain alone. Such acts may 
well be considered as pronouncing the condemnation of the principle against 
TTiiich we contend, as withdrawing from it the only pretext, upon which it is 
possible to rest it. — Great Britain does not pretend that this principle has any 
iv Arrent in the opinion of writers on public law. She does not pretend, and 
cannot pretend, that it derives any countenance from the conduct of other 
i'8 oyrfemdlt/ miliary in ih^ v^se of this invmtion by which EAPitr 



3^ THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



CITY IS SYSTEMATIZED, and A STATE OF NEUTRALITY X^U 
WAR ARE MADE SUBST AN Ti ALLV THE SAME. In this absence of 
all other authority, her courts have made an appeal to her own early example, 
for the justincation of her ovin recent practice. Your memorialists join i.'i that 
appeal as anbruing the n-iost conciu^jve and authoritative reprobation of the 
practice, whiciiit is intended to support by it. 

rj;j=* TUe solemn renunciation of the principle in question, in the face of 
the wiioie world, by her hi^iiest tribunal in matters of prize, reiterated in a .suc- 
cession of decrees, down to the year 178(), and afterwards, is powerfully confirm- 
ed by the acquiescence of Great B. itain, during the first, moift important, and 
active period of the late war, in t!ie free and unlinnted prosecution, by neutrals, 
of the wliole colony trade of France. Siie did indeed, at last, proiiibit that 
trade, bv an instruction, UNFRECEDEiVTED IN THE ANiX ALS OF 
MARITIME DEPREDAiiONS ; but the revival of her discarded rule, wa« 
cliaracterised with such circumstances of iniquity and violence, as rather to 
heighten, by the effect of contrast, the veneration of mankind for the past justice 
of her tribunals. The world has not forgotten the instruction to which vra 
allude, or the enormities by which its true character was developed. Produced 
in mystery, at a moment when universal confidence in the integrity of her gov- 
ernment iiad brought upon the ocean, a prey of vast value and importance ; sent 
abroad to the diiferent naval stations with such studied secrecy that i: would 
almost seem to have been intencled to make an experimer.t. rr^jHOWPAR 
LAW AND HONOUR COULD BE OUTRAGED EY A TT^^- TiON PRO- 
VERBIAL FOR RESPECTING BOTH— the herald? by whom it was frst 
announced were the commanders of her commissioned cruisers, who at the Fame 
instant carried ii into effect, with every ci'cumstance of aggravation if, of such 
zn act. there can be an aggravation. Upon such conduct tlicre was but one 
sentiment. It was condemned by reason and ju-tice. It was condfrnn^d by that 
law which fiows from, and is founded upon them. IT W ^S CONDEMNED 
AND WILL, FOREVER CONTINUE TO BE CONDEMNED BY THE 
UNIVERSAL VOICE OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD." 

Thomas Tenant, Henry Payson, Eenj. William?, 

John Donuel, Wiliiam Wilson, Wm. Lormnu, 

Luke Tiernan, T Swan, Wm. Taylor, 

Thos. Hollingsworth, Joseph Steret, Robert Gilmor, 

George Stiles, Steuart Brown, James Calhoun, 

J. A. Buchanan, John Collins, Samuel Steret, 

Alexr. M'Kim. David Stewart,. Hugh Thompson, 

Wm. Patterson, Mark PringiCj Samuel Taylor, 

John Sherlock, John Strieker. 

Baltimore^ Jan. 21, 1805. 

This list, like that signed to tlie Philadelphia memorial^ 
embraces federalists and democrat indiscriminateiy — as well 
as citizens of various nations. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Neivhaven, Decisive call for resistance. Unlimited pUd^e cf sap- 
port. — Extracts frmn Memorial of Merclmiits of Newhuryport. 
Reliance on wisdom^ firmness and justice of the government. 
JExtraclsf rom the Mtmorml'of the Chamber of Commerce of Neivhaven, 

" Your memorialists cannot behold, without surprise and regret, [CT^^t 
powerful and respectable nation^.^ bending lhcprincipk$ of the Qgmmon lam 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



97 



bf nations, io ansiver polliical purposes, and introducing a versaiiie pclicy 
into ike solemn adjudicaliGns of her courts. [^ViJL HOLD IT TO BE 
KXTREivlELY IMPORTi^NT THAT ALL NATIONS SHOULD 
COMBINE AGAINST SUCH INNOVATIONS UPON THEIR 
RIGHTS ; and {XJ^in particular that the United States^ ivhose geograph- 
ical posiiian gives them the best chance of 7naintainins: neuiralily\ during 
wars in Europe. SHOULD FIRMLY RESIST EVERY EN- 
CRO ACH3IENt UPON THE RIGHTS OF NEUTRAL COM- 
MERCE. 

With these impressions of the neces?ily of 'Xj^measures for defending 
nur commercial rights, which shall be firm, but temperate — and bold, yet 
Tuarked with a spirit of conciliation, your memorialists cordially unite 
-'.vith their fellow-citizens of other commercial towns, in expressina: their 
gentiiiients freely to the legislative and executive authorities of their 
conntry : with assurances of their dispofition TO GIVE AID AND 
SUPPORT TO EVERY MEASURE|OF GOVERNMENT CAL 
CULATED TO ACCOMPLISH THIS IMPORTANT OBJECT."" 

Signed by order, 

HENRY^ DAGGET, 
President of the Chamber of Commerce. 

JS'cichavsn, Feb. T, 1806. 

Extracts from the Memorial of the Merchants of Newburyport , 

In many cases our vessels and cargoes have been captured, tried and 
condemned in courts of law, under unusual and alarming pretences, ichich, 
ifpermifted to continue, THREATEN THE RUIN OF OUR COM- 
MERCIAL INTERESTS. 

" So far from obtaining redress of our grievances by the ordinary modes 
and processes of laic, we have in most cases been subject to heavy costs, and 
suffered embarrassing and distressing detention of property, even ivhere no 
pretence could he found to authorize the seizure of it. 

Having sustained these losses and injuries in the prosecution of our 
lawful commerce, and in the exercise of our just rights, we rely with confi- 
dence on the wisdom, firmness, and justice of our government, to obtain 
for us that compensation, and to grant to us that protection, which A RE- 
GARD TO THE HONOR OF OUR COUNTRY, no less than the 
fights of our citizens must dictate and require, 

Ebenezer Stocker, 
Stephen Howard, 
Edward Tappan, 
John Pearson, 
Newburyport, Dec. 1805, 

The same outrages having been experienced by the citizeng 
of Ne\vhaven and Newburyport as elsewhere, we of course find 
the same style of complaint— the same call for redress — the same 
pledge of support— in one case explicitly expressed, in the other 
unequivocally implied. 



Will iam Rartlett, \ ^ 
Moses Howard, 
William Paris, 



08 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



CHAPTER XVL 

Salem memoriaL Sound reasoning. Britain carries on a cofn* 
merce mith her enemy which she declares illegal in a neutral. 
Most solemn pledge of support. 

Extracts from the Memorial of Ihe Inhabitants of the town of Salem, Mass; 

" On ordinary occasions tbey have deemed it unnecessary to apply^ 
for redress of grievances to the governmeut of their country, confiding 
in the rectitude and wisdom of its councils ; and though their coflfidence 
in this respect is undiminished, yet as questions of national moment are 
now agitated, and aggressions committed on our commerce in a manner 
unprecedented, they deem it their duty to approach the constituted au*- 
thorities, and express their sentiments with fidelity and deliberation. 

*' [C/^ They have witnessed wiih unhesitating approbation ihe disposition 
io neutrality^ patronized by the general government, at times when national 
wrongs have been pressed tcith peculiar aggravations, and seemed io point 
to summary redress. Firmness and moderation have happily secured 
all the advantages of successful w^ar, and the sober appeal of reason car- 
ried conviction to foreign nations. 

" Your memorialists, how-ever, have witnessed, with deep regret, and 
deep anxiety, that to some of their tribunals they can no longer appeal 
for safety. {X/^ JVew interpretations sf old rules, and new glosses on 
ancient doctrine, have been arrayed io controul the circuit of neutral com' 
merce, and restrain, if not annihilate, its most beneficial operations. Their 
surprize has been the greater, because the nation who has adopted them, 
is one from whom we had a right to expect ihe most conciliatory conduct ; 
since with her ultimately centre ihe proceeds of our commerce^ and from 
her we purchase ihe greatest portion of her staple manufactures. 

" The interests of Great Britain and the United states, seem in Ibis 
respect mutual. We consurDe the products of her industry ; and give 
her, in return, besides large sums? of money, raw materials by which 
she may levy new contributions. Similarity of manners and habits, of 
language and education, have added artificial inducements for inter- 
course, and gained for her among us a respect not slightly to be 
viewed, or inconsiderately forfeited On all occasions ihe United States 
huve exhibited towards her an amicable interest, and a just, it may be added 
a generous policy. If, therefore, we had favors to ask or receive, our 
claims have been peculiarly strong upon her ; because we have been em- 
phatically the sinQws of her opulence. But it is believed that the Uni- 
ted States never a?ked of any nation more than justice, and are willing 
to be bounrt by the established rules of commerce. Your memorialist! 
therefore express deep regret, because a confidence has been shaken 
which mav not easily be restored ; find deep anxietv, because the princi- 
ples alluded to, ifconcetled, MUST EVENTUALLY PROSTRATE 
OUR TRADE, OR LEAVE IT AT THE ARBITRARY DIS- 
CRETIOX OF BELLIGERENTS. Whether peace or w ar prevail, 
the baneful iniluence will every where be felt; and in the latter predica- 
toent, w^e shall, as neutrals, share the mischiefs of it without the chsinoej^ 
of benefit. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



§9 



**The principle, recently established by Great Britain, is, as your 
memorialists uiulerstaiid it, that it Is not competent for a neutral to car- 
ry on in war, any trade, wliich he is not accustomed to do in peace ; 
and that he shall not be permitted to effect that in a circuitous, which is 
inhibited in a direct trade: as corollaries from this principle, she insists 
that the colonial trade exercised by neutrals, shall not extend beyond 
the accustomed peace establishment ; and that whenev er the neutral im- 
ports into his own country colonial produce with the inttniion to tran- 
ship it to the mother country, if a direct intercourse be interdicted in 
peace the circuity of the route shaii -not protect the property from con- 
fijccataoQ. rt seem* admitted that such circuitous route, with such inten- 
tention, is not considered as evidence of enemy's property, c nfiscable 
within ordinaiy rules ; but as a distinct, substantial, and condemnatory 
principle, independent both in eflBcacy and applicatioo. For it yitrids 
not to the most clear pi'oof of neutral property, or innocent though mis- 
directed conduct. The unaccustomed trade, or the importation with 
specific inieniions, are the tests by which every voyage is to be tried. 

*'In another view the rule appears to your memorialists not less un- 
tenable and unjust. It is stated, as a part of it, that if colonial produce 
be imported by any person with an intention to tranship it on his owa 
account to the mother country, it is subject to confiscation. But if im- 
ported for the purpose of general commerce, and thrown into the marl^et 
for general transhipment, it is within the exception. To distinguish be- 
tween jo^eneraZ and particular inieniions, and to separate things so subtle 
in their ow^n natures, and almost incapable of proof, for the purposes of 
national decisions, seems a refinement reserved for the present age. The 
foundation of this modern doctrine is laid in this principle, that the neii"^ 
tral has no right, by an extension of his trade, to afford supplies to the 
belligerent to ward off the blows of his enemy, aed to oppose for a lon- 
ger period the dominion of his force. But to this your memorialists 
deem it a conclusive answer, that the proposition proves too much ; that, 
if true, it is a foundation for a far more broad and sweeping principle ; 
that every commerce with the belligerent is inhibited to neutrals; for 
every commerce assists him in resistance, and diminishes his necessities. 
A doctrine thus compreheRsive, has never yet been avowed, and it is 
presumed never will be. Yet such must be the logical conclusion ; and 
it shews irxesistibly the absurdity of the assumed premises. 

The a^customtd, as well as the unaccustomed trade is within the 
terras, acd must stand or fail together. Either the doctrine is unsound, 
AND ASSUMED AS A MERE PRETEXT FOR PREDATORY 
SEIZURES ; or neutrals have no rights as such ; and must endure the 
calamities inflicted by belligerents in a contest in which they have no 
voice, and in which they can reap only injury. 

" Other considerations add force to the preceding remarks. It is well 
known that in time of war neutrals cannot carry on even their accustom- 
ed trade in its full extent- They are prohibited from trading in contra- 
band goods, and to blockaded ports. Variations necessarily arise in the 
relations of the hostile powers, which the neutral ought to possess a 
right to turn to his profit, as an indemnity for the obstructions of his old 
trade. These v>bstructions are of a very serious nature. When exercis- 
ed in the mildest form, thev produce OPPRES5ITE SEARCHES 
AND DELAYS, EXPENSIVE LITIGATION, AND OFTEN A 
TOTAL FAILURE OF AN OTHERWISE LUCRATIVE VOY- 
AGEc Reason would therefore aeein to declare, thft.t for hazards 



100 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



this nature, the benefits arising to neutrals from war, are not more thaa 
ajt5st equivalent. 

*' It is somewhat singular, that a belligerent should invite a trade with 
itself, which It declares fraudulent with its enemy ; and should lift the 
arm of power to crush the neutral, whose conduct is criminal only when 
it cease:; to be partial I 

Such are the remarks your memorialists reppectfully submit upon the 
rule consiilered in it.'^elf. On this examination they confess it appears to 
them, fundamentally incorrect. It subjects commerce to fluctuating de- 
cisions ; overthrows the ordinary rules of evidence ; and places aii im.- 
mense poAver to be wielded at the uncontrolabie discretion of magistrate* 
appointed by a single party. 

It therefore wants all the discriminative features of a fundamental 
proposition of the law of nations — uniformity, precision, and general ap- 
plicability. It would, in their opinion, if established, create greater 
evils than it profe^-ses to redress, by pcrpeiuaiing sirife, destroying the, 
tmolumenis of irade., emb arras ulna: coriimercial inltrcourse^ and LKTTING 
LOOSE THE PAS5IONS TO PREY ON THE -MISEKIEvS, AND 
PLUNDER THE PROPERTY OF THE INNOCENT. Il would 
subject neutrals to hazards^aearly as perilous as those of actual hostilities ; 
and independent of its iniluence in stimulating to revenge and retaliation, 
IT VVOITLD TRANSFER THE BENEFITS OF PEACE TO ANY^ 
TIC TORIOU^ USURPER OF THE OCEAN. 

*' But your meiuorialists are unwilling to rest the question on the pre- 
eedin^ grounds, however supported by reason. They appeal to higher 
r.onsiderations ; and {J^^deny that the rule is, or ever has made, a part 
of public law, or acquired by utage or prescript ion, any authority a- 
raiong nations. 

" Every page appears to give a direct contradiction^. They adhere to 
the ancient interpretation of the law of nations, which pronounces that 
the goods of an enemy are lawful prize, and those of a friend free ; that 
the neutral, except in case of blockade and contraband, has aright to the 
uninterrupted pursuit of bis commerce, when carried on with lus own 
property, at all events in a direct trade from his own country. 

" They conceive {XJ^that U is not within the authority of any nation to 
Icgislale for the rest ; and that the law of nations being founded on the 
tacit convention of the nations that observe it, can be binding only aa 
those nations V- ho have adopted it. 

" It is conceded by the British Civilians that during the Amei ican 
revolution the doctrine was entirely intermitted, and the commerce of 
neutrals was pursued according to the ancient code. 3Iany cases of this 
period might be cited from the admiralty records, which overthrow the 
rule, and expressly vindicate the opposite. If precedents are to decide, 
the judgments of a tribunal established in Gre8.t Britain under her sole 
appointment, and acting wiXh open powers, must surely, when acquies- 
cence creates the law, complete the renunciation of the contested rule. 

" It is not the ler.st singularity attending the conduct of the present 
war, that Great Britain has licensed her subjects in a trade which sJie de^ 
dares fraudulent in ethers ; ilmt she admits them unmolested to supply her 
enemy with means of resistance, when she declares confiscation is the penally \ 
of neutral succour, "^Tere the rule ever so iuft in itself, it certainly de- 
aiand? relaxation, when the belligerent partakes the profit, and connives c? 
(he breach. If its foundation he the unla\rfulness of affording assistance 
to a distressed enemv^ surely if ought not to be enforced when that assist* 
anc^ is an authorised object of ^jKculalim vnih (he distressing beUigci-ait* 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



101 



" It is our pri^e to believe that the American merchants, with rery 
few exceptions, are as distinguished for good faith as any on earth. The 
imputation thrown on them is a masked pretence to repel the odium of rexa- 
(ions injuries, and to excuse violations of law, which cannot be justified. 

*' Your memorialists wish to take no part in the contests which now 
convulse the world ; but acting with impartiality towards all nations, to 
reap the fruits of a just neutrality. If however, conciliation cannot ef- 
fect the purpose of justice, and AN APPEAL TO ARMS be the last 
and necessary protection of honor, they feel no disposition, to decline the 
common danger, or shrink from the common contribution. 

Relying on the wisdom and firmness of the general government in 
this behalf, they feel no hesitation to PLEDGE THEIR LIVES and 
PROPERTIED in support of the measures which may be adopted to vindv 
Caie the public rights, and redress the public wrongs.''^ 

John Hathorne, Benj. Crowninshield, jun. ) 

Joseph Sprague, Joseph White, jun. \Commitie(<> 

Jonathan Mason, Joseph Story. . j • 

Sahm, Jan. 20, 1806, 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Reflections mi the Memorials. Uniform call far redress^ XJnh 

farm pledge of support, 

I BBG the reader will devote a few minutes to a re-perusal of 
these important, these invaluable documents. Without bearing 
in mind their contents, it is impossible to forma correct estimate 
of ihe policy of this country, or of the merits and demerits of the 
two parties, whose senseless, and envenomed, and infuriated 
hostility, was of late rapidly sending to perdition the noblest 
country, the happiest people, and the best form of government 
in the world* 

We must not forget for an instant, the cause of all these im- 
passioned complaints, these invocations of redress, these pledg- 
es of support. This is the most important item in the affair. It 
w as simply ihe right to re-export the productions of the colonies 
of the enemies of Great Britain^ — a right, however clear and in- 
defeasible, which was wholly unessential to the prosperity of 
our country. We might have abandoned it without the sacrifice 
of an iota of the happiness of our citizens, or the real honor of 
the nation. 

No man of decency can deny, after the perusal of these docu- 
ments, that the mercantile citizens cf the United St ites urged 
— it would not be extravagant to s-^y, goaded — the government 
into a resistance of the high-lianded and oppressive preteHsioas^ 

K 



102 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

and outrages of Great Biitain. Every paragraph establishes 
this important fact. The expression of the publie sentiment 
Von this subject, was nearly simultaneous from Newburyport to 
Baltimore. 

That they calculated upon war, as the dernier resort, is ob- 
vious from the phraseology. It cannot be misunderstood. — 
When the Boston merchants express their reliance that 

^ *' Bucli mea^i;r 5S ^ill be promptly adopted, as will tend to disembarrass codj- 
jnerce, ASSERT OUR RIGHTS, and support the dignity of the Uoited States," 

it would be absurd and ridiculous to suppose these measures 
were to be limited to mere negociation, the utter inefficacy of 
which had been so often experienced. A child would spurn at 
the idea of " supporting the dignity of the United States'' by ne- 
gociation alone. This hacl already been found to be a very 
feeble resource, and might have been protracted for an age, 
without " asserting any of our rights,^'* Their views w ere not 
so limited. No. War, w ar, war, must indubitably have been 
in their contemplation, should negociation have an unfavorable 
issue. 

Can any man of common sense doubt, can any man of char- 
^icter, deny, that the merchants of Philadelphia calculated on 
WAR, when, after Jiaving suggested, 

That every measure not inconsistent with the honor and interests of the ua- 
tion, by which the great objects of redress and secarity might be attained, 
should be first tried," 

they addj 

*' If such measures should prove ineffectual, whatever may be the sacrifice o» 
their part, it will be met with submission." 

When the merchants of Newburyport 

Rely with confidence on the FIRMNESS and JUSTICE of the governmeut, 
to obtain for them compensation and protection,'* 

they must have been, insane, if they did not calculate upon 
WAR as the uUhna ratio. These are the worthy citizens who 
stand recorded in the annals of their country, as having since 
pairiotically pledged themselves to resist their own govern- 
ment, "EVEN UNTO BLOOD." 

And who can pretend, that the merchants ofNewhaven^ 
when they called upon the government 

Firmly to resist every encroachment upon the rights of neutral nations," 
did not calculate upon war ? And did they not most solemnly 
pledge themselves, when they tendered the 

" Assurances of their disposition to give aid and support to EVERY MEAS- 
URE calculated to accomplish this important, object." 

And wheii the New-York merchants declaveil their 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



UD3 



" Reliance upon the government of their country tliat their rights would;, not 
be abandoned/' 

and that the crisis required 

All the energy, as well as the prudence and wisdom of the government," 

can there be found a man who will pretend that war was not 
calculated on, unless other means might be found to accomplish 
the end in view ? It cannot be. 

And can there be a more explicit pledge given, than is to be 
found at the close of their memorial— 

** We pledge our united support in favor of all the measures adopted to vindi- 
cate and secure the just rights of our couiitry.'* 

I am credibly informed that there are subscribed to this me- 
morial, names of persons who lately prayed fervently and open- 
ly, for the destruction of the armies of the United States inva- 
ding Canada ! This is most wonderfully consistent and patri- 
otic. 

But the merchants of Salem are more explicit on the subject 
of war than any of their mercantile brethren elsewhere. They 
leave no room for inference or supposition. They most unam« 
biguously declare their views. 

" If, however, conciliation cannot effect the purpose, and AN APPEAL TO 
ARMS be the last and necessary protection of honor, they feel no disposition 
to decline the common danger, or shrink from tiie common contributipn.'* 

And was there ever, since the world was formed, a more 
solemn pledge given, than the one with which they close their 
memorial, and which I here repeat — 

*' Reljang on the wisdom and firmness of the general government, in this behalf 
they feel no hesitation, to pledge their lives and properties in support of the 
measures which may be adopted to VINDICATE THE PUBLIC RIGHTS, 
AND REDRESS THE PUBLIC W^RONGS.'* 

In the next chapter, I shall investigate the question, bow fe? 
^hese pledges were redeemed. 



CHAPTER XVIIL 

Character of jrurcJiants ly Edmund Burke. Illiberal andunfmind- 
ed. ^Merchants as various in character as other clcLsses of men, 
American merchants shrewd and intelligent. Most lamentably 
hlinded by faction to their dearest interests. Example of Eng^ 
land worthy of imitation. Struggles between ins cmd outs. All 
unite against the cojnmon enemy. American factions more del- 
eterious than those in England. 

Edmund Burke has left on record a most unfavorable char- 
mi^f of mercliants, which has been a thousand times quoted 



104 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



to their disparagemeut. He has, if my memory do not deceive 
me, asserted, that they have no national attachments or pat- 
riotism — that their ledger is their Bible — and gold their God. 

This character is unfounded and illiberal. All sweeping de- 
nunciations of entire classes are unjust. The merchants are 
as various in their characters as any other description of men. 
There are among them numbers of persons of the highest re- 
spectability — great patriotism — a high sense of honor — great 
liberality — and possessing all the other virtues that can adorn 
the human character. There are likewise some as base and 
vile as the others are excellent. 

Theie is nothing in mercantile affairs or commerce, that has 
a. tendency to deteriorate those who follow the profession. It 
is inconceivable how it should be otherwise. The large scale 
on which commerce is conducted, is rather caiculeited to expand 
than illiberalize the mind. 

Moreover, a considerable portion of the merchants having 
enjoyed the advantages of the best education, must, from that 
circumstance alone, have a fair chance of not meriting the de- 
nunciation of Edmund Burke. 

That the American merchants are, in general, shrewd, intel- 
ligent, and j>enetrating, cannot be denied. They are in these 
respects,, at least on a level with the merchanls of any other 
country. 

It must, however, be acknowledged, that in the course they 
have steered from the commencement of the year 1806, when 
the preceding memorials were presented to Congress, till the 
declaration of w ar, and during its continuance, they have been 
as lamentably blind to their own vital interests, and to the 
highest interests of their country, as if they were almost alto- 
gether deficient of the reasoning faculty. They have inflicted 
incalculable injury on both. Indeed, so intimately in this case 
were these interests connected, that both were, and must ne- 
cessarily be, equally affected by the same wound. I hope to 
make this appear to their conviction, and that of the public. 

The reader has seen that the mercantile part of the commu- 
nity felt the highest indignation in 1 806, at the pretensions of 
England to limit the American trade in the colonial produc- 
tions of her enemies ; that they very strongly remonstrated w ith 
the government to resist those pretensions; and that thei/ pledg- 
ed themselves to their comitiry and to the worlds to svpport the gov- 
emment in whatever measures might he necessary to obtain re- 
4ress — obviously, evidently, and undeniably contemplating even 
war with all its horrors, I propose to examine how far their 
practice corresponded with their professions and pledges. 

The pacific measures adopted to effect the objept of their d€- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



mreB were — a prohibition of the importation ofsorae of the most 
important of the manufactures of Great Britain — an embargo^ 
when the injuries we experienced from that nation had vastly 
increased— and non-intercourse. 

Did the American merchants redeem their pledge ? Did they 
presc-ve their faith ? Did they support the government in aii 
or any of these measures? 

No. They indubitably did not. There is not a candid fed- 
eralist^ from New-Hampshire to Georgia, that will assert, that 
the merchants, as a corps, supported the g(>vernment in any 
one of these measures. I say distinctlj^ as a corps. There 
were illustrious exceptions. But the fidelity of these except- 
ions in redeeming their pledge was unavailing. 

117= The pledge was forfeited by the corps — completely forfeited. 

The clear, indisputable, and melancholy facfc is, that after 
having impelled and goaded the government into measures to 
procure redress, they not merely withheld their support from 
those measures, bat actually as far as ^lepended on them, pre- 
vented their success. They hung hostilely on the skirts of the 
government, and defeated the embargo, non-intercourse, and all 
the other restrictive measures* 

I have thus far considered the point as it respected their 
plighted faith, and the obligation tiiey thereby incurred to sup-- 
poil the government in measures which had arisen oat of their 
memorials, remonstrances and solemn pledges. 

I now enter on the consideration of their conduct, as it de~ 
monstrates an unparalleled blindness towards their own interests, 
and those of their country. 

Whatever misjudging prejudice, or faction, devotion to Eng» 
land, or hostility to France may pretend, the solemn fact is, 
that the United States were most grievously outraged and injur- 
43d by Great Britain. The violence or excesses of France, 
enormous, and iniquitous, and indefensible as they were, afforded 
no justification to those of her enemy. "^ Retaliation," in tlie 
words of Mr. Bayard and Mr. Lloyd.^ " was A MERE PRE- 
TENCE." If A. rob me of my hatyit does not follow that B has 
n right to retaliate on HIM, by robbing ME of my coat or waist- 
toot. And still less, if A threaten to rob me, but has not the 
power ta^lo it, has B the right to retaliate on Mm by robbing 
^ne. France pretended to blockade England, and seize neutral 
vessels bound there — but was unable to effect her purpose 
through her destitution of naval power. England retaliated upon 
France by seizing our vessels bound to that country ; and 

* In a gubscqacnt chapter, I sbail quote tUe sentiments of these gentlemfin .«t 

IT o 



JOG 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



persevered in that lawless course for entire years> Jraving 
depredated on the United States to the amount of many miilions, 
and with every species of aggravation, of w hich such an out- 
rage is susceptible — and forsooth all was perpetraled to punish 
France^ whmi she was at the same time siipplying mih our pro- 
ductions herself: : I There is not in the history of the v/orld any 
conduct more gross or less defensible. 

When we are laid in our graves, and oar factions and con- 
vulsions are buried in oblivion, posterity will pass a heavy 
sentence of condemnation upon these odious, these oppressive^ 
these scandalous transactions. 1 am sure such is the decision 
of ali impailiai and unprejudiced men in Europe. I w ould for- 
feit a world, were I possessed of one, ii' this be not " Alexander 
the deliverer's" sentiment. 

That America has been the aggrieved nation, and England 
wholly the aggressor, is palpable from one circumstance. In 
all the diplomatic intercourse that has taken place between the 
cabinet of St. James' and that at Washington, the former has 
hardly ever made the slightest complaint of injustice against the 
latter, except occasionally of partialitif towards France, This, 
ifit mean any thing, must certainly mean that we bore French 
depredation, in?ult, am} oidrcige^ more paiiently than English cut- 
rage^ insult, and depredation. If it liave any other meaning, I 
^hall be gratified to have it demonstrated. 



W e inflicted on France one solid, sul>stantial, important, and 
most destructive iajury, from which England was wholly free. 
We uniformly submitted from 1792 to 1812, to the violation of 
our neutrality, to the material benefit of one beliigerent and 
extreme disadvantage of the other. Our comirvercial marine was 
a constant mirserif for Great Britain, to supply her navy with sea^ 
fnen to annoy and distress her enemy. 

This was a constant caus^ of war against us by France. It 
was in direct hostility with fundamental principles of the law of 
nations. It was affording a most decisive and all-iniportant aid 
to one belligerent for the destruction of the other, to an enor- 
mous extent, I believe unpan'alleled in the history of Europe* 

It will not, from the premises, be denied, that from the decia- 
i'ation of war betw een France and England, the latter power 
constantly made inroads upon us— and we as constant sought 
iedress — and that our principal grievances were the outrages 
"practised on our seamen, and the reiterated and intolerable 
infringement of our commercial rights and privileges. 

Under this view of the case, the coiTectness of which will 
not, I trust, be disputed, bat coi^'se ought an enlightened body 
i©f merchants to steei ? 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



101 



Suppose them patriotic, and public spirited, and mRgnani- 
mous ; a regard to the national houor and interest would impel 
them to uphold the government of their own country in a strag- 
2;le against the lawless outrages of a foreign nation. But even 
suf»pose them base, sordid, selfish., avaricious, and without a sin- 
gle spark of patriotism, public spirit, or liueraliij, ought not their 
verv selfishness dictate the same coarse ? Hov>' could they fail 
to 5ee that every stei) they took to harrc ss, to cripple, to embar- 
rass their own government, was a step towards enabling the 
foreign and aggressing nation, to triumph over their coautry, 
and to enforce ils claims, to the manlfect and immense injury of 
iheir own most vital interests ? I should pity the fatuity of a 
hid who had been I'ut six weeks in a counting-house, and did 
iiot at once perceive the cogency of these arguments. This 
f)oint is clear, and plain, and convincing m theoiy. But it do(^s 
not rest on theory. We have a strong and practical illustration 
of it by our own taelancholy experience, an illustration which 
the merchants of this country will long have cause to deplore. 
By the jacobinic'dl, and seditious, and disorganizing combina- 
tions to oppose the measures calculated to procure redress, Eng- 
land was enabled to enforce the orders in council for four years 
and an half; whereby, during sixteen months, she interdicted 
our trade witli all Europe; except Sweden and her own depend- 
encies : that 33 to say, she fcrhade tis to trade with abaiit one 
hundred and frdrty miUions <rf ih^ people of Europe. — For the re- 
mainder of the ti-me, when she somewhat relaxed her orders, 
proscribed mir trade with at least fifty millions. 

Never has the aun in his course beheld such transcendent, 
uch lamentable, such irreparable folly as the merchants of the 
United States have been guilty of in this instance. Through- 
out the. whole of the arduous conflict between the United States 
nnd Great Britain, tliey have constantly^ and invariably, and most 
f ncrgeticaUy thwarted^ and harrassed^ and embarrassed their own 
government. They have defended the conduct of Britain 
throughout— and as constantly labored, in the face of reason, 
justice, and common sense, to put their own nation in the wrong. 
And for what end? to serve the purposes cf pariy ; to cnahle a 
few ambitions men, who were out of office, and panted to get in^ to 
acccmplish this object i / / 

I once more wis^li to qualify these observations. There were 
here, as in a former case, splendid exceptions among the mer- 
chants, citizens who displayed the most exalted patriotism.— 
These exceptions do not invalidate the rule. I speak of the 
merchants as a corps ; — for it is thus only they can be consider- 
ed in tbia discussion , — as tlieir operations on the goverameift 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Jind nation were felt — and more particularly, as they acted in 
the eastern states. 

Any one of the three pacific measures adopted by this gov- 
ernment, had it been duly supported by the mercantile interest, 
v«ouIdhave obliged Great Britain to redress our wrongs, and 
very speedily. We should then have enjoyed an unsiiackled 
commerce. And had our merchants, either from patriotism or 
selfishness, submitted to a short temporary privation of business, 
they would have been repaid by a tenfold harvest of m ost lucrative 
comimrce* But faction led them astray. They rendered whol- 
\y nugatory all the measures^ adopted to guard their interests, 
and to extort justice for their wrongs. Great Britain was thus 
encouraged to proceed in her aggressions. Thi& led to a wast- 
ing w ar. To the hostile opposition of the mercantile class, 
therefore, we may fairly ascribe its ravages. 

In all the wild, frantic, audfatuitous career of faction — from 
the earliest records of time to '/he present day, I believe there is 
no parallel case. Never did an intelligent, enlightened and re- 
spectable body of men, make so immense, so wanton, so irrecov- 
erable a sacrifice of their dearest interests, and so completely 
contrary to the dietrites of reason and common sense* 

[lJ* I/Behehib orlMcifrr held the reins qf^overmneni, policy and 
self-interest would dictate thai in alt contests with foreign nations^ 
he ought to be supported unless most manifestly and cgregiously 
imjusL Fiihlic spirit and selfishness equally comhine to enforce 
this precept. 

How iranscmdmtly superior Great Britain towers over 7is^ in 
this respect ! What a sublime lesson she liolds out — what a noble 
example she offers us to follow ! 

She is torn by faction like America. There is a constant 
struggle betw^een the incumbents in office and those who pant 
after the seats they fill. But whenever the honor or vital inter- 
est of the nation is at stake, party in a great measure dies away, 
or, at least, becomes incapable of injuring the common cause — 
all unite under the national standard — and, till the end in view is 
accomplished, distinctions are almost wholly lost in one com- 
mon designation, sup])orters of their country's interest and honor. 

Not so in America* It is a fatal truth, that at the moment^ 
when this page was written, [Sept. 1814] when not merely our 
interest, and our honor, but even our very salvation was jeopard- 
ized, faction raged in many places with unabated violence ; and 
wicked men were ince&santly employed in exciting our citizens^ 
to imbrue their hands in the blood of their countrymen,* instead 

* This was tlie inevitable tendency, although not the declared purpose^ fif e 
v^iyjcoiisiderabk cumber of the publkatioBS in certaifi Eewspspers. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



preparing to oppose a vindictive enemy. May the God of 
peace and love^ dispel the clouds that impend over us — banish 
our discords — and once more unite us in the bonds of hiarmouy 
and charity towards each other. Amen, 



CHAPTER XIX. 

BrUish Depredations brought on ike tapis in the Senate of the t7- 
?iited States. Condemnatory Resolutions passed. Messrs. Pick- 
cringe Hillhouse, Bayard^ and Tracy^ in the affirmative. — 
Ambassador extram'dinary to England. British goods prohib- 
ited. 

In consequence of the presentation of the mercantile memo- 
rials, the Senate of the United States took the subject into their 
most serious consideration; and passed the following Resolution, 
on the 10th Feb. 1806. 

*' P».esolved, that the capture and condemnation, under orders of the British 
government, and adjudications of their courts of admiralty, of American vessels 
and their cargoes, on the pretext of their being employed in a trade with the en- 
mies of Great Britain proliibited in time of peace, is AN UNPROVOKED AG- 
GRESSION UPON THE PROPERTY OF THE CITIZENS OF THE UNI- 
TED STATES— A VIOLATION OF THEIR NEUTRAL RIGHTS— AND 
AN ENCROACHMENT UPON THEIR NATIONAL INDEPEND- 
ENCE.''* 

I hope the reader will attentively peruse this resolution. It 
is clear and explicit. It solemly protests against the revival of 
the exploded rule of the war of 1 756, as 

*' An encroachment upon the national independence, and a violation of our 
aeutral rights.'' 

Stronger language could not well be used. What renders it 
peculiarly remarkable, is, that it was carried by an unanimous 
vote of the Senate^ 28 members present. Bat secondly and 
chieOy, I beg it may be borne in eternal remembrance, that a- 
mong the names of the senators who thus voted, are to be found 
those of Messrs. PICKERING, Hillhouse, Bayard, and Tracy. 

Another resolution, passed February 14, stands in these 
words : — , 

"Resolved, that the presideut of the United States be requested J^J^ 
DEMAND tli8 restpration of the property of their citizens captured aud con- 
demned on the pretext of its leing employed in a trade with the enemies 
Great BriUdn, vfohibited in time ofpzace ; aad rj;^ the indemnijication of such 
American citizens f or iktir losses and damages sascained by these captures and 
^?ndemnations ; and to enter into such arrangementa with the British governmerj, 

* Journals of the Senate for 1805— p«ge 126. 



110 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



on these and all other differences between the two nation*, (and particiilarlv 
respecting rr^ the IMPRESSMENT OF AMERICAN SEAMEN) as may 
beconsisteni with the honor and interest of the United States, and manifest their 
<:'arnest desire, for theinselve* and their citizens, of that justice to which they 
are entitled."* 

There was a division upon this resolution. It was carried 
by twenty affirmative, against six negative votes. Messrs. 
PICKERING, Hillhouse, Bayard, and Tracy were in the af- 
firmative, as on the former resohition. 

To obtain redress from Great Britain, four modes present- 
ed themselves — negotiation — non-intercourse — embargo, and 
war. 

The first in order required to be first essayed. Accordingly 
the administration entered upon negotiation, and, to attach more 
solemnity to it, Mr. Wm. Pinkney was appointed minister ex- 
traordinary, and united with Mr. Monroe^ then resident at the 
court of St James'. 

To give the negotiation a greater likelihood of success, an 
act was passed,! making a strong appeal to the interest of Great 
Britain. By this act, the importation into the United States 
was prohibited^ of a variety of her most important manufactures, 
viz. 

•* All articles of which leather is the material of chief valut. 

" All articles of which silk is the material of chief value. 

♦* All articles of which hemp or flax is the material of chief value, 

** All articles of which tin or brass is the material of chief value, tin in sheets 

excepted. 

*' Woollen cloths, whose invoice prices shall exceed £ve shillings sterling per 
square yard. 

*' Woollen hosiery of all kinds. 

Window glass and all the manufactures of glass. 
" Silver and plated wares. 
*' Paper of eveiy description. 
** Nails and spikes. 
" Mats and c]/)thing ready made. 
^* Millineryof ail kinds. 
** Playing cards- 

^* Beer, ale, and porter ; and pictures and prints." 

This act was passed on the 18th day of April, 1806, in com- 
pliance with the remonstrances of the merchants, as a means of 
inducing England to abandon her unjust pretensions, and to 
cease her depredations. And with a laudable wish to afford her 
time to weigh its consequences, and to prevent a rupture, its 
operation was not to commence till the IStltof the following 
'November, a period of seven months. Thus reluctant was our 
government to have recourse to extremities, notwithstanding 
the grievous provocations that had been offered. It i^ impossi- 

^ Journals of the Senate for 1806— page 131. 
f Laws of the United States, vcl. vi. page gO. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Ill 



ble to conceive a more lenient mode of proceeding:, or one re* 
fleeting more credit on the forbearance of an injured and insult- 
ed nation. 

Still further to evince the ^vish of our rulers to preserve peace, 
the operation of this act was suspended in December 1806, till 
the 1st of July 1807^ — and moreover, the president was author- 
ised, " if in his judgment the public good should require it, to 
suspend it still farther till the second Mon:iay of December in 
the same year." 

Here let us pause a moment. The United States had suffer- 
ed depredatious on their commerce to an enormous amount, by 
the revival of a pretended rule of the law of nations, which had 
been formally abandoned, and of which revival no previous no- 
tice had been given. And instead uf having recourse to repri- 
sals, or to a declaration of war, either of which would have been 
perfectly just, they adopted the mild measure of restraining the 
commerce of the aggressor, in order to make it his interest to do 
them justice. Never was greater forbearance shewn — never 
was forbearance worse requited. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Attack on the Chesapeake. Proclamation interdicting our harbors 

to tiie British, 

While the depredations sustained by our merchants were 
yet under discussion, a tragical affair occurred, which still fur- 
ther unfortunately embroiled the two nations. 

The Chesapeake, capt. Gordon, sailed from Norfolk on the 
22d of June, 1807. The Leopard, of 50 guns, which w as moor- 
ed near her, weighed anchor shortly afterwards. She soon o- 
vertook tlie Chesapeake, and demanded four sailors, three of 
whom had deserted from the British frigate Melampus. The 
fourth was said to have deserted from a British merchant ves- 
sel. Commodore Barron, who was on board, refused to deliver 
them : and in consequence the Leopard commenced an attack 
upon the American frigate, which w-as wholly unprepared for 
resistance. Three men were killed, and sixteen wounded ; a- 
mong the latter was the commodore, w ho struck his flasr, and 
surrendered the vessel. Capt. Humphreys of the Leopard sent 
an otScer on board the Chesapeake, who seized four of her crew? 



* Laws of the United States, page 220. 



112 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



William Ware, Daniel Martin, John Strachan, and John Wii- 
gon. 

Of the four persons, thus seized, one was brought to trial at 
Halifax, and, being found guilty of desertion, was hanged. — 
One died in confinement. The other two were retained in 
bondage till June 13th, 1812, when they were restored to free- 
dom on board the Chesapeake, at Boston. 

This outrage excited the utmost indignation throughout the 
United States, and for a time united all parties in the common 
clamor for reparation of the insult and injury, or war. The 
federalists were as loud in their denunciations of the lawless 
violence as the democrats. 

I have already stated the prudence of the then president, Mr. 
Jefferson. The attack took place on the 22d of June — and he 
delayed the extra meeting of congress till the 26th of October, 
to afford time for the effervescence of the public to subside. 
This wise measure saved the country from war at that period. 

But to guard against similar outrages, and against others 
which we had suffered within our own jurisdiction from British 
Tessels of war, the president issued a proclamation forbidding 
them the entrance into our ports and harbors, of which I subjoin 
a copy. 

PROCLAMATION. 

During the wars which, for sosae time, have unimppily prevailed among the- 
powers of Europe, the United States of Anaerica, firm in their principles of peace, 
^ave endeavoured by justice, by a regular discharge of all their national and 
social duties, and1)y every friendly office their situation has'admitted, to maintain 
with all the belligerents their accustomed relations of friendship, hospitality and 
commercial intercourse. Talcing no part in the questions which animate the 
powers against each other, nor permitting themselves to entertain a wish but for 
the restoration of general peace, they have observed with good faith the neutral- 
ity they assumed : and they believe that no instance of a departure from its 
duties can be justly imputed to them by any nation. A free use of their harbours 
and waters, the means of refitting and of refreshment, of succor to their «ick and 
suffering, have, at ail times, and on equal principles, been extended to all, and 
this too amidst a constant recurrence of acts of insubordination to the laws, of 
violence to the persons, and of trespasses, on the property of our citizens, com.- 
mitted by officers of one of the belligerent parlies received among us. In truth, 
these abuses of the laws of hospitality have, with few exceptions, become habit- 
ual to the commanders of the British armed vessels hovering on our coasts, and 
freque»ting our harbours They have been the subject of repeated representa- 
tions to their government. Assurances have been given that proper orderi 
should restrain them within the limits of the rights and of the respect due to a 
friendly nation : but tho3e orders and assurances have been without effect : no 
instance of punishment for past wronj^s has t-iken place At length, a deed^ 
transcending all we have hitherto seen or eufP^red, brings the public sensibility to 
B serious crisis, and our forbearance to a necessary pause, k. frigate of th« 
United States, trusting to a state of pe-^ce, and leaving her harbour on a distant 
nervice, has been surprised and attacked hyaB' itish vessel of superior force — one 
of a squadron then lyiag m our waters^ aa€ coveriog the traisacUon , and hag 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. m 

been disabled from service, with the loss of a number of men klUecl and wounded. 
— Tins enormity was not only without provocation or justifiable cause, but was 
committed with the avowed purpose of taking by force, from a ship of war of the 
United States, a part of her crew : and that no circumstances might be wanting 
to mark its character, it had been previously ascertained, that the seamen de- 
manded were native citizens of the United States. Having effected his purpose, 
he returned to anchor with his squadron within our jurisdiction. Hospitality un 
der such circumstances ceases to he a duty : and a continuance of it, with such uii 
controled abuses, would tend only by multiplying injuries and irritations, to bi ing 
on a rupture between the two nations. This extreme resort is equally opposed 
to the interest of both, as it is to assurances of the most friendly dispositions on 
the part of the British government, in the midst of which thk outrage has been 
committed. In this light, the subject cannot but present itself to that govern- 
ment, and strengthen the motives to an honorable reparation of the wrong which 
has been done, and to that effectual control of its naval commanders, which alone 
.?an justify the government of the United States in the exercises of those hospital^ 
Ities it is now constrained to discontinue. 

In consideration of these circunntances, and of the right of every nation to 
regulate its own police, to provide for its peace and for the safety of its citizens, 
and consequently to r<?fuse the admission of armed vessels into its harbors or 
waters, either 4o such numbers or of such descriptions, as are inconsistent with 
'^h^se, or witli the laaiTitenance of tiie authority of the laws, 1 have thought 
proper, in pursuance of the authorities specially given by law, to issue this my 
proclamation, hereby requiring all armed vessels bearing commission under the 
governrfient of Gveat Britain, now within tlie harbors or waters of the 
United States, immedidtelj? and without any delay, to depart from the same ; 
and interdicting the entrance of all the said harbors and waters to the said armed 
vessels, and to all others-bearing commissions under the authority of the British 
government. 

And if the said vessel^, or any of them, shall fail to depart as aforesaid, or if 
they or any others, so interdicted, shall hereafter enter the harbors or waters 
aforesaid, I do in that case forbid ail intercourse with them or any of them, their 
officers and crews ; and do prohibit all supplies and aid from being furnished to 
them or any of them. 

And 1 do declare and make known, that if any person from, or within the 
jurisdiction and limits of the United States, shall afford any aid to any suf h vessel, 
contrary to the prohibition contained in this proclamation, either in reStting any 
such vessel, or in furnisliing her, her officers, or crew, with supplies of any kind, 
or any manner whatsoever ; or if any pilots shall assist in navigating any of 
the said armed vessels, unless it be for the purpose of carrying them, in the first 
instance, beyond the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, or unless it be 
in the. case of a vessel forced by distress, or charged with public despatches as 
hereinafter provided for, such person or . persons shall, on conviction, suffer ail 
the pains and penalties by the laws provided for such offences 

And I do hereby enjoin and require all person? bearing office, civil or military, 
within or tnder the authority of the United States, asd all others, citizens or 
inhabitants thereof, or being jvithin the same, with vigilance and promptitude to 
exert their respective authorities, and to be aiding and assisting to the carrying 
this proclamation, and every part thereof, into full effect. 

Provided nevertheless, that if any such vessel shall be forced into the harbors 
or waters of the United States by die iress, by the dangers of the sea, or by the 
pursuit of an enemy, or shall enter them charged with despatches or business 
from their government, or shall be a packet for the conveyance of letters or 
despatches, the commanding oflFicer immediately reporting his vessel to the 
collector of the district, stating the object or cp.uses of entering the said harbors 
or waters, and conforming himself to the regulations in that case prescribed unde^r 
the authority of the laws, shall be allowed the benefit of such regulations respect-.- 
ing repairs, supplies, stay, intercourse and departure^ as shall bepeimitted 'andef 
the gaiae aiithority,^ 



114 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



In testimony whereof, 1 have caused the seal, &c. 

Given at Washiagton, the second day of July, one thousand eight 
hundred and seveii, and of the independence of the United States 
the thirty-first. 

^ , ^ Tii: JEFFERSOiV. 

By the President, 

James Madison, Secretary of State. ' 

At thfe distance of time, it is hardly possible to realize the 
indignation, the abhorrence, the resentment, universally exci- 
ted by the outrageous conduct of Captain Humphreys. It per- 
vaded every quarter of the union, without exception. All par- 
ly distinctions were lost for the moment. Federalists and de- 
mocrats, foreigners and natives, all united in the strongest call 
upon the government to procure redress for the outrage. War 
was contemplated tlnouglioat the union, and there was hardly a 
meeting held, of which the memi)ers did not most solemnly 
pledge themselves to support the constituted authorities in 
whatever measures might be requisite for the defence of the na- 
tional rights and national honor. 

To enable the reader to form some idea of the fervid slate of 
the public mind, I submit the following extracts to his perusaL 
They are fair specimens of the universal sentiment on this in- 
teresting topic. 

\Pxiract from the proceedings of a meeting of the citizens of Richmond^ held ' 

July 1, 1807. 

Resolved, That while we xleprecate the horrors of war, and approve all honor- 
able means of averting them, repossess the firm hope that the government of 
the United States nill avenge this unparalleled outrage with ike spirit nhick 
'becomes the nation, aad which the nation feels ; believing as we do, that 
however unequal may be our naval strength, our enemies have nevertheless 
vulnerable points within our reach, through which we may be able to strike 
them vitally. 

Extract from the proceedings of the citizi7is of West Chester^ July 4, 1807. 

" Resolved unanimously, That we shall consider the government of Great 
Britain as having forfeited all claim to the friendship and hospitality of the 
government and people of the United States, until ample and proper satisfaction 
Se made ; and in conformity therewith, we do solemnly pledge ourselves to 
maintain the strict observance of the proclamation of the president of the United 
States, by every means in eur power. 

" Resolved, That ne shali, at all times, he prepared to e^icounter all hazards^ to 
frMintain lite rights and independence of our country with our lives end ou?' fortunes ; 
and that we will support the administration of the-general government in every 
proper measure which it may adopt, in the alternative of a coerced retribution of 
our wrongs, or in calling forth the energy and resources of the people at this 
important crisis." 

Extract from the proceedings of the ciiisens of Lewidown and its vicinity ^ 

July 10, 1807. t 

Resolved unaniiiiously, Th^i the repeded aggressions and violations committed 
by Great Britain against all neutral naiicns in general^ and particularly against 



■PP THE OLIVE BRANCH. 115^ 

ihe persons and privileges of our ciiisens, as a free and independent people, have 
excited in us just abhorrence and indignation j that the late outrage by the 
Leopard ship of war against the Chesapeake, we consider as « premeditated insiUi 
to our government and national character ^ and wearing so barbarous an aspect^ 
that longer patience rvould degrade the name of A mericans. 

" Resolved unanimously, That if upon tlie meeting of Congress, it shall be 
found necessary to resort to hostile measures against Great Britain for tlie attain- 
ment of justice, we will cheerfully submit to any deprivations^ or hardships attendant 
on a state of war ; and we will make every exertion to perfect ourselves in the 
military art, and equip ourselves to oppose the base and cowardly enemy of our 
country." 

Extract from the proceedings of ihe citizens of Alexandria^ June 27, 180T- 

" Resolved, That the tyrannic conduct of the British nation on the ocean has 
justly rendered her odious among all civilized powers. 

" Resolved, That we view the late savage and dastardly outrage committed by 
the Leopard Bi^itish ship of war on th^ United States frigate Chesapeake^ witk 
due indigTiaiion.^* 

Extract from ihe proceedings of the citizens of Wilmington^ Delaware, July 
4, 180T, ihe venerable John Dickinson in ihe chair, 

" Resolved, That we view with the strongest sentiments cf indignation and ab- 
horrence the late unprovoked, lawless., and ferocious attack made by ihe British ship 
of war Leopard upon the frigate Chesapeake^ and the daring insult offered thereby 
to the flag, the government, and the people of the United States,'* 

Extract from the proceedings of ihe citisens of Baltimore, June SO, 180f. 

" Resolved unanimously, That wc view with indignation and horror the wanton 
attack lately made upon the Chesapeake frigate by the British ship of war» 
Leopard, by which many of our fellow-citizens have been killed and wounded, 
and the government and flag of our country most grossly insulted. 

Resolved unanimously, That we have perfect confidence in the \visdonj an^^ 
firmness of the administration to enforce satisfaction for an outrage so glaring and^ 
injurious to the honor and dignity of our country. 

" Resolved unanimously, That we will with our lives and fortunes support th^ 
government in all such measures as they may adopt on this momentous occasion, to 
obtain redress and satisfaction for the outrage aforesaid.'* 

Extract from the proceedings of ihe citizens of Philadelphia, July 1, 180T, 
J (^seph Hopkins on, esq, secretary.* 

" Resolved, That the conduct of Great Britain towards the United States, hag 
been too often marked by hostility, injustice, and oppression ; and that the out- 
rage committed by the Leopard, one of her ships of war under the express orders 
of one of her admirals, upon the Chesapeake, a frigate belonging to the United 
States, is an act of such consummate violence and nr^ng, and nf so barbarous and 
and murderous a character, that it would debase and degrade any nation and much 
more so, a nation of freemen, to submit to it. 

"Resolved, That we will support the administration of the general goverc- 
inent in all and every measure which may be adopted by them, to avenge the 
wrongs our country has suffered from Great Britain, and to compel the most rigid 
retribution ; and that to attain a full measure of justice from her, we pledge our- 
selves to make any sacrifices, and to encounter any hazards. 

** Resolved, That by the laws and usages of nations, a national ship is always 
exempt and free from examination or search, by any foreign vessel or power. 

* To readers at a distance from Philadelphia, it may not be amiss to state that 
Mr. Hopkinson is and has always been as decided a federalist as Harrlsoa Gragp- 
Otis, Timothy Pickering, or Josiah Quincy, 



THE OLIVE BRANCH 



" Resolved, That this premeditated outrage is considered as imtiUmount to a de* 
Ciaraticn of jvar on the part >^ Great Britaiji, aiid as tvindve qfan irrtconc liable 
hostility to this 7iation. 

*' Resolved, That we entertain a confidence, that the government of the United 
States niil adopt the most decisive and vigorc/iis measures to obtain reparation for 
the injuries and Trrocgs sustained from the government of Great Britain." 

Extract/rowi ihe proceedings of a meeting cf citizens of Piiisburgh^ kf.ldJuh 

10, 180T- 

*• Resolved, That the late outrageous and hostile conduct of the officers of the 
-British navy, to the flag of the United States on the coast of Virginia, has excited 
©ur highest indignation. 

*' Resolved, That it is the duty of ev*ry true American to aid the government 
of our country in all measures having a tendency to protect its best interests, its^ 
J»orvor and independence." 

Extract from the proceedings of the Citizens of Norfolk, June 24. 

Resolved unanimously, That we view this unprovoVed, piratical, savage, 
rii:ci assassin-like attack upon the Chesapeake with that horror and detestatTon 
which should always attend a violation of the faith of nations and tlie laws of war; 
•and we pledge our lives and our property to co operate with the government In 
any measures which they may adopt, whether of vengeance or retaliation." 

£:ctract from an address cf a cmnmiitee appointed in Norfolk, to their felloUj 

Citizens, dated July 11, 1807. 

" The liiSL deed of savage ferocity, unparalleled even in tte naval annals of 
Britain, awakened the sentiment of ahhorrejice in every breast. Ev£ry voice- 
was loud ill its call for reparation, commensurate to the insult ; British in?olence 
and barbarity had readied the neplus ultta. They had the unblusiiing effrontery 
to claim the rights of hospitality, while their hands were crimsoned and smoking 
with the bloc^l of yoar countrymen ; e%'en at the instant they had declared war, 
in sight of tliose shores from wiiich, not many years past, their discomfited and 
recreant myrmidons were driven with disgrace ; in sight of those monuments, which 
till your breasts with a holy and inspiring admiration for the valor and triumphs 
of your forefathers. The nation was unexpectedly plunged into war, and jour- 
selves the first exposed to its ruthless blast. The choice of tame submission or 
resistance was forced on your consideration ; with one voice you declared that 
your ancestors had wrested their rights, their liberties, and independence, from 
the suffocating grasp of British tyranny, by the sword j and that yon, their 
posterity, had resolved with it to defend and to perpetuate the hallowed patri- 
mony." 

Extract frmi the proceedings of the Ciiise^^ of Xew York, July 2, 180T. 

Ha\nng received, with tlie most lively indignation, authentic information, 
that on the 22d uit an attack, unwarranted by the known usages of nations, and 
in violation of our national rights, was made off the capes of Virginia, on the 
United States' frigate Chesapeake, commodore Barron, by his Britannic majesty's 
armed ship the Leopard, captain Humphreys : the citizens of New-Vork, 
assembled in general meeting, deem it to be their duty to express their opinions 
on this fresh outrage offered to their national sovereignty by the navy of Great 
Britain 

Resolved, that we consider the dastardly aijd unprovoked attack made .on 
the United States' armed ship Chesapeake, by his Britannic majesty's ship, 
the Leopard, to ba a violaiion of our national rightSj as atrocioo^ as. it v"- 
preceUented/* 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. Ui 

Last in the long list, let me take the liberty of offering tothe^ 
world the sentiments of the citizens of Boston, in town meetings 
held in the court-house. 

Bosion, JulyiO, 1807. 

Whereas it appears by a proclajnation issued by the President of tire Unite** 
States, that a most Trantoii and cruel outrage has been committed upon the United 
States' frigate Chesapeake, by^ the British ship of war Leopard, in which our 
citizens have beea wounded -and murdered^ and the flag of our nation insulted and 
^•iol3ted. And whereas it is the duty, as well as right, of Hhe ^itizens^ of a free 
country to express their readiness to support the constituted authorities in the 
ni!»-asures they may adopt for national redress of an iiijury so barbarous in its 
pature, and so unprecedented in its execution f therefore, 

** Resolved unauimouslyv That the late aggression, committed by a British ship 
of war on a frigate of the United States, for the avowed purpose of taking front 
her by force a part of her crew^, was a wanton outrage upon the persons and lives 
of our citizens, and a direct attack on our national sovereignty and independence j 
that the spirited conduct of our fellow citizens at Norfolk on this occasion, before 
the orders of government could be obtained, was-highly honorable to themselves 
end to the nation. 

R-psolved unanlmnusly. That rrj^ the Jirmy .dignified, and temper cie policy; \ 
adopted by our executive at this mjmmious crisis is entitled to our most cordial 
mpprohitinn and support 

Res Ived unanimously. That with all out personal influence and exertions 
we will aid and assi^^t the constituted authorities in carrying the proclamation of 
the president of the United States, in every particular, into full and effectual 
execution. 

Resolved u:;aRimously, That though we unite with our government in wishirg . 
xTiOst ardently tor peace on just and honorable terms, yet {jy^ we are ready 
cheerfully to co-operate in any measures, however serious, whicu they may judge 
necessary for the safety and honor of our country, and will support them ^ith 
our lives and fortunes." 

Besides the above meeting, there was another held in Boston, 
at Faneuil Hall, on the 16th July, 1307, at which John Coffin 
Jones, esq. acted as moderator. John Quincy Adams, Harrison 
Gray Otis, Wm. Eustis, Christopher Gore, Charles Jones, Johii 
C. Jones, Thomas H. Perlmis, Jonathan Mason, and John War- 
ren, esqrs. were appointed a committe to prepare a report, which 
Contained-the following resolutions — 

Re=iolved, that' we consid^ the unprovoked attack made on the United States'' 
armed ship Chesapeake, by the Bristish ship of war Leopard, a wanton outrage 
upon the lives of our fellow-ciiizens, a direct violation of our national honor, acd 
an. infringement of our nat^nal rights and sovereignty^ 
r Resolved, that we roost sincerely approve the proclamation, and the firm anel 
dispassionate course of policy pursued by the president of the United States, and 
w'e will cordially unite with our fellow-citizens in affording effectual support to 
such measures as our gov^rument may tiirther adopt, in the present crisis of our 
affairs. 

To those tinacqnainted with the sofe^mnity and regularity of 
the proceedings in Boston town meetings, it may not be improp- 
er to state, tha4; there is probably no town ih the world whose 
public meetings are conducted with naore pro;Tie!:y and deco*- 
»ttm— and that these resolutions may be regarded as full aud as-^ 



118 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



fair an expression of the sentiments of the citizens of the town 
as ever was given. 

I have already offered a few reflections on the charge of 
French influence, so universally alledged against Mr. Jefferson, 
and so generally believed by the federalists throughout the un- 
ion. At the period of passing these resolves, he had been in 
otfice six years and four months, out of eight years of his presi- 
dency. And, behold, flie town of Boston, after so long an ex- 
perience of his conduct in this dignified, and arduous office, 
passes on him the highest encomiums for his ^'finn^ and dispas*^ 
smiate course of policy at a crisis of the utmost delicacy. What 
a contrast— what a contradiction between this panegyric and 
the never-ending abuse, the remorseless virulence, with which 
he has been assailed from that period to the present, in that 
lowui, by men, the major part of whom were probably at the 
meeting, and concurred in this vote of approbation t Alas ! alas I 
what a poor, miserable, contemptible, senseless animal is man \ 
To how little pur|J0se is he endowed with that proud, distinct- 
ive faculty, called reason, of which he makes so little use ! 

It is due to justice, and to the spirit of impartiality which I 
iiave studiously labored to preserve throughout this work, to 
state, that previous to the sailino; of the Chesapeake, Mr. Ham- 
ilton, the British consul at Norfolk, had made repeated official 
demands of these four seamen, which demands were repelled \\j 
the officers on board the Chesapeake, with the concurrence and 
approbation of the cabinet at Washington. This refusal led to 
the orders issued by admiral Berkley, then at Halifax, to Cap- 
tain Hum{)hre3^s, to take the men by force. 

It is also due to justice, to state, that as these men had enter- 
ed voluntarily on board the Chesapeake— .ind as Great Britaio 
steadily refuses to surrender foreigners who enter her vessels 
Voluntarily — the claim made for these four sailors was not justi- 
fied or w arranted by her own practice. 

The following account of three of the four me>i thus seizied, is 
extracted from a letter w ritten by comrnodor^i Baron, to the sec- 
retary of the navy, and dated April 7th, >S12. It arose from 
the requisition of the British Consul at Norfolk for the delivery 
X>f these persons* 

*^ Vt'iiiiara Ware, pre??ed from on b&rrd the brig Neptune, captaia Ci afts, by 
tire British frigate Melampu?, in t>e bay of Biscay, and has served ca board the- 
^aid frigate fifteen month?. 

William Ware is a native American, born on Pipe creek, Frederick county, 
•«tate of Maryland, at Bruee's mills, and served his time at said mills, il^ alsa 
Jived at EUicott's mills, near Baltimore, and drove a wiggon several years be- 
tween Hngerstown ai:d Baltimore. He also served eighte ri months on board the 
'^iJnited States' frigate Caesapeake, ur^der the command of comeiodore Morris aad 
isptsuj J^mes ^rro*. JKe. ^ as liadi^-IfioJk.isg saaa* 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Daniel Martin wss pressed at the sairip time and place. He is a native of 
Westport, ill J- :!,ssac)iasetts, about thirty miles to the eastward of Newport, 
Hhode-Ijjia:. .'. served his time oi t of New- York, with captain Marrow by, in the 
Caledonia r t r-.ers to Mr. Benjamin Davis, merchant, and Mr. Benjamin Corce, 
of W^stpo^U He is a colored mnn 

John Strachan, born on xht eastern shore of Maryland, Queen Ann's county, 

between Centerville and dueens-town ; refers to Mr, John Price, and Pratt, 

Esq. on Kent Island, who kno^7 hi- relations. Straclisn sailed in the brig iMartha 
Blaud. captain \^^ivill. from New York to Dublin, and from tiience tolaverpoo). 
He there Je^t tiie brig and shipped on board an English GuineamaD. He was 
pressed c:.- board tUe Melampus off c^>pe Fioisterre ; to better his situation, he 
consented to enter, being determined to make his escape when opportunity offered. 
He served on board the frigate two years. He is a white man, about five feet 
gpven inches high. 

" William Ware and John Strachan have protections. Daniel Martin says he 
lost his after after leaving the frigate." 

While the American mlncl was festering under the atrocious 
outrage perpetratedbj CaptJIunaphrey&j the British government 
issued a proclamation, directing; the search Tor, and seizure of 
British sui^ects ou board neutral merchant vessels, of which I 
3Uj>join the two principal paragraphs. 

*' For the better execution of the purposes of this our royal proclamation, we 
do authorise and command all captains^ masters, and others commanding our ships 
and vessels of war, to stop and make stay of all and every such person or persona 
(being; our natural born subjects) as shall endeavor to transport or enter themselves 
into the service of any foreign state, contrary to the intent and command of this 
<iur royal proclamation, and to seize upon, take, and biiiis; away all such persons 
as aforesaid, who shall be found to be employed or seiTino; in any foreign merchant 
ship oi" vessel as aforesaid ; but we do strictly enjoin all such of our captains, 
masters, and others, that they do permit no man to go on board such ships and 
-vessels belonging to states at amity with us, for the pu'^pose of seizing upon, taking 
.and bringing away, such persons as aforesaid, for whose dif^creet and orderly 
^meanor, the said captains cannot answer ; and that they do take especial care 
that no unnec8s«;ay violence be done or offered to the ves'?el, or to the remainder 
of the crew, from out of which such persons shall be taken. 

" And in case of their receiving information of any ."uch per^^on o^^ persons being 
i^mployed, or serving on board any ship of war belonging to such foreign state, 
^eing a state at amity with us, we do authorise and comsiand our captains, 
-masters, and others commanding our ships of war, to rex]uire of the captain or 
commander of ;;uch foreign ship of war, that be do forthwith release and discharge 
auch person or persons, bein^ our natural born subject or subjects ; and if such 
release and discharge shall be refused, then to transmit information of such refusal 
'io the commander in chief of the squadron under w^bos? orders such captain or 
sommanders shall be then serving ; which information the said commander in chief 
is hereby strictly directed and enjoined to transmit, with the least possible delay, 
to our minister residing at the seat of g-ovemment of that state to which the said 
foreign ship of war shall belong, to demand reparation for the injury done to us 
.by the unwarrantabk d-eterxiion of our natural bom subjects in ihe service of a 



120 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



CHAPTEK XXI. 

BlocJcade of the Coast from the Elbe to Brest. Be rim Decree. 

Instead of redressing the grievances of which our merchants- 
30 loudly, and so eloquently, and so justly compluined, the Brit- 
ish government, on the 16rh ofMny, 1806, luider the adminis- 
tration of the celebrated Charles James Fox, issued a proclama- 
tion, blockading the coast of Germany, Holland, and France, 
irom the Elbe to Brest, extending to about 800 miles. There 
never was an adequate force stationed ioefiect a legal blockade 
of a third part of the coast included within the proclamation. 

The French government, exasperated at this offensive and 
unjustifiable measure, retaliated on Great Britain by the noto- 
rious Berlin decree, whereby the whole of the British domin- 
ions were declared to be in a state of blockade, although a sin- 
gle French vessel of war hardly dared ta shew itself on the 
seas ! 1 ! 

Tmpcrial decree declaring ilte Brilish Isks in a state of Blockade. 

Imperial Camp^ Berlin, Nov. 21, 1806. 

Jvapoleon, Emperor of the French, and Kinsr of Italy, considerhig : 

1. That Engkmd does not adaiit the right of nations, as universally ackno\Tlcd^*- 
%d by all civilized peo'jle ; 

2. That she declares as an enemy every individual belonging to an enenay 
state, and in conseqiience makes prisoners of war, not only of the crevrs ot armed 
vessels, but those also o^mercJuint vessels^^and even the supercargoes of the same ; 

3. That she extends or applies to merchant vessels, to articles of coramerce, 
and to the property of individuals, the right of conquest, which can only be applied 
or extended to what belongs to an enemy state ; 

4. That she extendi to ports not fortified, to harbors and mouths of rivers, the 
7^ght of blockade, which, according to reason and the usage of civiliiied nations, is 
applicable only to strong or fortified ports ; 

5. That she declares places blockaded before which she has not a single ves&ei 
of war ; although a place ou2;ht not to be considered blockaded but when it is so^ 
invested as that no iipproacli to it can be made without imminent hazard : that 
ghe de»c]are3 even places blockaded which her uniled forces would be incapable of 
doing, such as entire coasts, and a whole empire ; 

6 That this unif^qa'illed abuse of the rig'nt of blockade has no other object than 
to interrupt the communication of different natrons, and to extend the commerce 
and industry of England upon the ruin of these of the continent ; 

7. That this bein?:: the evident design of England, whoever deals on the continent 
in Engliah merchandigie favors that design and becomes an accomplice ; 

8 That this conduct in- England (worthy only of the £rst ages of barbarism)- 
has ber.eiited her to the detriment of other nations ; 

9. That it being right to oppose to an enemy the same anns she makes use of; 
to combat as she does ; when all ideas of justice, and every liberal sentiment 
(the result of civilization among men) are disregarded : 

We have re olvcd to enforce against England tlie usages w^hich she has conse? 
crated in her maritime code. 

The present decree shall be considered as tlie undamental law of the empire, 
■«ntil England kas acknowledged that the o-i^its nfn^r are tha same on land as at 



( 

THE OLI YE BRANCl^. 



121 



?ea ; that it cannot be extended to any private property whaterer, mw to persons 
TV ho ai e not military, and until the right of blockading be restraioed to fortified 
places actually invented by competent forces. 

Article I. The British islands are in a stale of blockade. 

2. All commerce and correspondence vvith them is prohibited. Conse^Juentlyy 
all letters or packets written in England, or to an Englishman, vrriiitn in the 
English language^ shall not be despatched from the post-ofiSces j and shall be 
seized. 

3. Every individual, a subject of Great Britain, of whatever rank or condition 
who is found in countries occupied by our troops or those of our allies, ehaii be 
made prisoner of war. 

4. Every ware-house, all merchandize or property whatever, belonging to an 
Englishman, are declared good prize. 

5. One half of the proceeds of merchandize declared to be good prize, and for- 
faited as in the pr^cedini; articles, shall go to indemnify merchants who have suf- 
fered losses by the English cruisers. 

*6. rio vessel coming directly from England or her colonies, or having been 
tiiere since the publication of this decree, shall be admitted into any port. 

7. Every vessel that hy a false declaration, contravenes the foregoing diiposi- 
tion, shall be seized, and the ship and cargo confiscated as English property. 

8. [This article states, that the councils of prizes at Paris and at Milan shall 
have recognizance of what may arise in the empire and in Italy under the present 
article.] 

9. Communications of this decree siiall be made to the kings of Spain, Naples,- 
Holland, Etruria, and to our other allies, whose subjects, as well as ours, are 
victims of the injuries and barbarity of the English maritime code. 

10. Our ministers of foreign relations, are charged with the execution ol 
the present decree. NAPOLEON. 

Extravagant as this decree appears, it is capable of some de- 
fence ; a defence not void of plausibility. It was promulgated 
to retaliate the blockade of a great extent of coast, of which, as I 
have stated, two-thirds were not invested by any force whatev- 
er. And it cannot be denied that if the blockade of a single 
port three miles in extent, much more a long line of coast, with- 
out a force to support it, be legal, the blockade of the British do- 
minions, or even of a whole continent, without a force, is like- 
wise legal. And I am persuaded that Capt. Boyle's celebrated 
blockade of the British dominions, was quite as legal and defen- 
sible, as the late blockade of such ports of the United States as 
had no naval force stationed before them. 

So far as respected American vessels^ the Berlin decree wa« 
not enforced for twelve months. This is a most important fact, 
and is not asserted lightly. It stands on respectable authority, 
to which no objection will lie. This authority is Alexander 
Baring, Esq. member of the British house of common?. 

^ No^ condemnaUon oj\ an American vessel had ever taken place under it ; and so 
littlsr d^d the French privateers interfere with the trade of America with this coun- 
try, thatfAe imurancc- tmii has been very little higher than in time cf profound 
peace ; while that on the American trade with the continea t of Europe b^T at the 
suine time* been doubled and even trebled by the conduct of our cruisers."* 

* Enquiry into tlie causes and con?equences of the orders in council ; and an 
ctamiaatioaof tiie conductor Great Britain towards the neutral coamserce of A- 



122 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Besides the above authority, I annex an ofSciai proof of my 
position : — 

Paris, Nov. 12, 1807. 

Sir — It was not till yesterday that I received from Mr. Skipwith a copy of the 
decree of the council of prizes, in the case of the Horizon. This is thejirsi un- 
friendly decision of that body under the decree of the 2\st of Nov. I^i06. In tiiis 
cage, and on the petition of the defendant, the court has recommended the restor- 
ation of the rvkoh cargo. I did not ho vv ever think proper to join in asking as a 
favor, what I believed myself entitled to as a right. 1 subjoin a copy of my note 
to the minister of foreign affairs. And am, sir, ^fc 

JOHN ARMSTRONG. 

Mr. Madison^ &(c. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Orders in Council of Nevcmher lUA, 1 807. Milan Decree. 

As a retaliation for the preceding Berlin decree, were issued 
the orders of Nov. 11, 1807, whereby all neutral vessels, bound 
to France, or her dependencies, or to any port from which 
British vessels were excluded — and further all vessels furnished 
with French consular certificates of the origin of the cargoes, 
were declared liable to seizure and condemnation. This meas- 
ure, so destructive to the rights and interests of the United 
States, was predicated upon our acquiescence in the Berlin de- 
cree of November, 1806, twelve months anterior, although that 
decree, as I have stated, had not been enforced against our 
eommerce, and of course we had no right to remonstrate against 
it. There did not, therefore exist that acquiescence which 
could have warranted tliis higli-handed outrage. 

To enable the reader to judge correctly on the suhject of 
these celebrated orders, I annex a copy of them at full length. 

At ike Court of the Qxieeii^s Falace^ the \ Uh of NaveviJber^ 1807,. 
present y the King'' sinost excellent Majesty in council. 

Whereas certain orders, establisiiing an unprecedented system of warfare against 
t^is kingdom, and aimed especially at the destruction of its commerce and re- 
.SG'jrces, were some time since issued by the government of France, by which "the 
British islands were declared to br in a state of blockade thereby subjecting to 
capture and condemnation all vessels with their cargoes, which should continue to 
trade with his roajt:sty's dominions : 

And whereas by the same orders, all trading in English m^erchandize is prohib* 
ited : and every r.rticle of merchandize belonging to England, or coming from her 
colonies, or of her manufacture, is declared lawful prize. 

And whereas the nations in alliance with France, and under her control, were 
required to give, and have given, and do give, effect to such orders ; 

merica. By Alexander Baring, esq M. P." London, published February, 186% 
Republished in PhiUdplphia, Bradford and luskefep. 



THE OLIVE BRANdH. 



123 



And whereas his majesty *3 order of the 7th of January last, has not answered the 
desired purpose, either of compelling the enemy to recal those orders, or of in- 
ducing neutial nations to interpose, with effect to obtain their revocation ; but, 
on the contrary, tlie same have been recently enforced with increased rigor : 

And whereas his majesty, under these circumstances, finds himself coiapeiled to 
take further measures tor asserting and vindicating his just righis, and for sup- 
porting that maritime power which the exertions and valor of his people have, 
under the blessing of providence, enabled him to establish and maintain ; and the 
maintenance of w;jicn is not more essential to the t-afety and prosperity of his 
majesty's dominions, than it is to the protection of such states as f^till retain 
their independence, and to the general intercourse and happiness o: mmlcind. 

His majesty is therefore pleased, by and with Vie advice of his privy council, 
to order, ai;d it is hereby ordered, that all ike ports and plazes <rf B'r 'Lnct and ktr 
allic;^ or of any other country at ivar n ith his majesty, and -dl other ports or places 
in Europe^ from wkich^ altkough not at rear mWi his majesty, the British jiag is 
excluded^ and all ports or plices in iJie. colmies belonging lo his iniijesty''s entmies^ 
shall fr jm henceforth, be nthject to the same restrictims in pr.ini of tr^de and 
navig(diany nith the exceptions hernn fter men'ioned^ as if the same wrre actually 
bluckcdcd by his majesty's mtwl forces, in the rrtjo^h strict and rigorous manner. 
And it is lieveby further ordf red and declared, that all trade in articles which 
are of the produce or manufacture of the said countries or colonies, shall be 
deemed and considered to be unlawful ; and that every vessel trading from^ or to 
the said countries or colonies, together ndth goods and merchandize on boards and 
all artidts of the product or manvfacture of the said countries or colonies^ shall be 
captured and condemned a*- prise to the cxipiors. 

Butaithough his majesty would be fully ju«ti^d, J)y the circumstances and con- 
siderations aboved recited, in establishing suijh a system of restrictions with res- 
pect to all the countries and colonies of his enemies, without exception or quali- 
£catioQ; yet his majesty, being nevertheless desirous not to subject neutrals to 
any greater inconvenience than is absolutely inseparable from the carrying into 
effect his majesty's just determination to counteract the designs of his enemies, 
and to retort upon themselves, the consequences of their own violence and in- 
justice ; and being yet willing lo hope that it may be possible (consistently with 
that object) still to allow to neutrals the opportunity of furnisiiing themselves 
with colonial produce for their own consumption and supply \ and even to leave 
opeTiyfoi' the present SUCH TR\DE WITH HIS M A JESTY'S ENEMiES 
AS SHALL BE CARRIED ON DIRECTLY WITH THE PORTS OF HIS 
MAJESTY'S DOMINIONS, OR OP HIS ALLIES, in the manner hereinafter 
mentioned. 

His majesty is therefore pleased farther to order, and it is hereby ordered, 
that nothing herein contained shall extend to subject to capture or condemnatioD 
any vessel, or the cargo of any vessel, belonging to any country not declared by 
this order to be subjected to the restrictions incident to a state of blockade, 
which shall have cleared out with such cargo from some port or place of the coun- 
try to which she belongs, either in Europe or America, or from some free port in 
his majesty's colonies, under circumstances in which such trade from such free port 
is permitted, direct to some port or place in the colonies of his majesty'' s enemies^ oer 
from those colonies direct to the country to which such vessel belongs^ or to sooae 
free port in his majesty's colonies, in such cases, and with sucli articles, as it may 
be lawful to import into such free port ; nor to any vessel, or cargo of any vessel^ 
belonging to any country not at war with his majesty which shall have cleared out 
from some port or place in this kingdom^ or from Gibraltar or Malta^ under suck 
regulations as his majesty may think fit to prescribe, or from any port belonging to 
his majesty's allies, and shall be proceeding direct to the port specified in her 
clearance ; nor to any vessel, or the cargo of any vessel, b dongiug to any coun- 
try not at war with his majesty, which shall be coming from any port or place in 
Europe, which is declared by this order to be subject to the restrictions incident 
to a state of blockade, DESTINED TO HOME PORT OH PLACE IN EU- 
ROPE BELONGING TO HIS MAJESTY, and which shall be on her voyage 
direct thereto j but these exceptions 2u*e not to be understood as excepting trom 



THE OLIVE BRANCar. 



capture or confiscation any ve?sel or goods which shall be liable thefeto in resp^tt 
of having entered or departed from any port or place actually blockaded by Iiis 
majesty's squadrons or ships of war, or for being enemies' property, or for any 
other cause than the contravention of this.present order. 

And the commanders of his majesty's ships of war and privateers, and other 
vessels acting under his majesty's commission, shall be. and are hereby instructed, 
to warn every vessel which shall have commenced her voyage prior to any notiqe 
of tliis order, and shall be destined to any port of France, or of her allies, or of 
any other country at war with his majesty, or to any port or place from which 
the British fiag, as aforesaid, is execluded, or to any colony belonging to his ma- 
jesty's enemies, and which shall not have cleared out as i^ herein before allowed, 
to discontinue her voyage, and to proceed -o some port or place in this Icingdom, 
or to Gibraltar or Malta And any versel which, after having been so warned, 
or after a reasonabl£ time shall have been afforded for the arrival of information 
of this his majesty ""s order to any port or plac^ from which sh** sailed, or which, 
after having notice of this order, shall be found in the prosecution of any voyage 
contrary to the restriction? contained in this order, shall be captured, and, to- 
gether with her cargo, condemned as lawful prize to the captors. 

And whereas countries not engaged in the war have acquiesced in the orders bf 
France, prol ibiting all trade in any articles the produce or manufacture of his 
majestys dominions 5 and the merchants of those countries have given counte- 
nance and efifect to those prohibitions, by accepting from persons styling them- 
selves commtrcial -a.2:ents of the enemy, resident at neutral ports, certain docu- 
ments termed cerfifia<tes of origin,'''' being certificates obtained at the ports of 
shipment, declaring that the articles <f (he airgo are not of Utt product or manu- 
faciureff his majesty"* s dominions^ or to V atfffed, 

And whereas this expedient has been dir*='cted by France, and submitted to by 
such merchants, as part of the new system of warfare directed against the trade oi 
this kingdom, and as the most effectual Instrument of accomplishing the same ^ 
and it is therefore essentially aecessary to resist it. 

His majesty is therefore pleased, by and with the advice of his privy council, to 
order, and it is hereby ordered, that if any vessel, after reasonable time shall 
have been afforded for receiving notice of this his majesty's order, at the port or 
place from which such wssel shall have cleared out, shall be/cund carrying any 
such certificate or docitment as aforesaid^ or any document rfferrijig f-"-, or authentic 
eating the same, such vessel shall be adjudged lawful prize to the captors, to- 
gether with the goods laden therein, belonging to the person or persons by whom, 
or on whose behalf, any such document was put on board. 

And the right honorable the lords commissioners of his msjesty'i treasury, hi^^ 
majesty's principal secretaries of state, the lords commis=^ioners of the admiralty* 
and the judges of the high court of admiralty, and courts of vice admiralty, are 
to take the necessar}! measures herein, as to them shall respectivelv appertain. 

W. FAWKENERk 

The precedino: orders were assigned by Napoleon as a tea* 
son for, and justification of, the Milan decree, of which I sub- 
mit a copy ; although it somewhat deranges the plan of this part 
of my work. But I prefer grouping these three documents to- 
gether, for the ease and convenience of the reader. 

IMPERIAL DECREE. 

Rejoinder to his Brilannic majesty"* s Order in Council of the Wth N'ovembsr^ loOl. 
At our Royol Palace at MilaUy December 17, 1807. 

Napoleon, emperor of the French, king of Italy, and protector of the R,henish 
confederation 

Observing the meastires adopted by the British government, on the 11th Nc- 
vesnber last, by which vegsels beloDging to neutral, friendly, or even powers tb*" 



f H?: OLIVE BRANCH. 



;^nies of England, are made liable, not only to be searcued by English cruiscrp, 
but to be compulsoriiy detained in England, and to. have a tax laid on them of so 
iBuch per cent, on the cargo, to be regulated by the British legislature. 
' Obiierving that by these acts, the British government denationalizes ships of 
gvery nation in Europe ; that it is not competent for any government to detract 
from its own isdependence and rights ; all the sovereigns of Europe having ia 
irust the sovereignties and independence of the Rag ; that, if by an unpardonable 
weakness, and which in the eyes of post^^rity would be an indelible stain, if such 
a tyranny was allowed to be established into principles, and consecrated by usage, 
the English would avail them jeivc 3 of it to assert it as a right, as. they have 
availed themselves of the tolerance of governments to establish the infamous 
principle, that the flag of a nation does not cover goods, and to give to their right 
of blockade an arbitrary extension, which iniVinges on the sovereignty of every 
state ; we have decreed and do decree as follows : 

I. Every ship, to whatever nation it m^y belong, that shall have submitted te 
be searched by an English ship, or to a voyage to Englajjd, or shall have paid any 
^ax whatsoever to the English government, is thereby, and for that alone, declared 
to he denationalized ; to have forfeited the protection of its king ; and to have 
become English property. 

IJ. Whether the ships thus denationalized hy the arbitrary measures of the 
English government, enter into our ports, or those of our allies, or whether they 
fall into the hands of our ships of war, or of our privateers, they are declared to 
be good and lawful prize. 

III. The British islands are declared to be in a «tate of blockade, both by land 
and sea. Every ship of whatever nation, or whatsoever the nature of its cargo 
may be, that sails from the ports of England, or those of the English colonies, 
and of the countries occupied by English troops, and proceeding to England, or 
to the English colonies, or to countries occupied by English troops, is good and 
lawful prize, as contrary to the present decree ; and may be captured by cur ships 
of war, or our privateers, and adjudgpd to the captor. 

IV, These measures, which are resorted to only in just retaliation of the bar- 
barous system adopted by England, which assimilates its legislation to that Of 
Algiers, shall cease to have any effect with respect to all nations who shall have 
liie firmness to compel the English government to respect their flag. They shall 
continue to be rigorously in force as long as that government does not return to 
the principle of the law of nations which regulates the relations of civilized states 
in a state of war. The provisions of the present decree shall be abrogated and 
null in fact, as soon as t'le English abide again by the principles of the law of 
nations, which are a'.«o the principles of justice and honor. 

AH our ministers are charged with the execution of the present decree, which 
ahall be inserted in the bulletin of the laws* 

NAPOLEON. 

Oa the 25{ii of November, 1807, an additional order in coun- 
cil was issued, and on the 25th of March, 1808, an act of parlia- 
ment passed, the object of both of which was to permit a trade 
between nautral nations (the only neutral nations then were the 
United States and Sweden) and France and her dependencies^ 
on the condition that the vessels en^a^ed in it should enter some 
British port, PAY A TRANSIT^ DUTY, and take out a It- 
cence t And the British f^overnment affected to res;ardthis arrange^ 
tncnt as a favour coiif erred on neutrals f f / / This was fairly cap- 
ping the climax. 

It may not be unsatisfactory to the reader, to state the dirties 
thus laid on the exports of the United States by a foreign im- 
tion* Well might Mr, Baring declare— 

M 



128 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



It Is immaterial, whether it be a tax on stamps, or on cottca. This question 
.has beeu the subje^ of a long and bloody war." 



Goods alloiced to be bonded. 

Barilla - - - lOipercwt. or - - $2 22 

Bark (Peruvian) - - tJs — - - - I 35 

Cochineal - - - 7s — - - - I ^7 

Cocoa nuts - -11 — - - - 4 44 

Coffee - - - 1 8s — - - - 6 20 

Ginger - - - 7s — - - - 157 

Gum Arab, and Senegal - 10s — - - - 2 22 

Hemp - - - 15s — - - - 3 33 

Hides (raw) - - 3s per hide - 67 

Jalap - Gd per lb. 11 

Indigo - - - 2s — - - - 45 

iron (in bars) - - 13 — per cwt. - - 13 32 

Pimento - 2d per lb. - - 4 

Pitch - - - 4s 4(i per 31 1-2 gal. - 96 

Quicksilver - - Is per lb. - - 22 

Rhubarb - 2s — 45 

Jlice - 2s per c^vt. - 45 

Rum and Spirits single - 8<ipergal. - - 15 

Do. over proof - - Is 4;^ — - - 30 

k?ugar (brown or Muscovado) lOs per cwt. - - 2 22 

Do. (wliite or clayed) - 14s — - - - 3 11 

' Tallow - - - .75 - - - 1 57 

Tar - - - 4s 4<i per 31 1-2 gal. - 96 

Tobacco - - ' lrfl-2perlb. - 3 

Tiu-penline (common) - 3s i-d per cwt. - - 78 

^Wine - - ' IQ per 252 gals. - 26 64 

Wood (mahogany) - - II per ton - - 4 44 

Cotton - 9rf per lb. - - 17 

Timber - - - H 7s per 50 c. feet - 5 98 

Masts, (S:c. 6 inches under S 5 s per piece - - 1 11 

. 8 12 - lOs — - 2 22 

. 12 and upwards II 7s — - - 5 98 

. Goods not allowed to be bonded^ and upon which the home'Consumpiion duties 

must be paid on imjportation : 
Anchors 49 per cent, on the value, 

.Annatto ^ - ^ - 12 4d per cwt. - - §10 G5 

\r£ol - - - .5s — - - 1 11 

Ashes - - - IDs ~ - - 2 22 

Oak bark - - 2s Cd - 55 

JBread - . = 4s _ , - CO 

Batter - . - - Jl — - - 4 44 

. C ible and Cordage - 18s — - - 4 00 

Wheat - - - 10s per qr. - 2 22 

Wheat meal and Flour » 5s per cwt. - - 1 11 

Stock-fish - - - ■ 2s 6d per 120 - - 56 

Other fish - - - 4s per cwt. - 90 

Seed Oil - - - ilO 10s per 252 gsils. - 46 62 

Pork - - - 175 Gd per cwt. ^ - 3 92 

Flax-seed - - - Is 6d per 56 lb. - - 33 



Prize goods prohibited. Goods not enumerated, but which may be used in this 
country — oa the prcseyit duties 40 per cent. 

A letter from Rathbone^ Hughes and Duncan^ of Liverpool, dated in the be- 
ginning of April, 1808, has this paragraph : 

" These dutit-s to attach to tlie cargoes of all vessels bound from the United 
"States to those ports or the continent, which are under the infiuence of France, 
andanivein this country, in -compliance with the orders in council of the llth 
;Ncr»'ember/» 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



12? 



A Synopsis of part of the Ejfeds of these, Duties. 

A c^rgo of cotton, of 1000 bales, of 300 lbs. each, which is about the common 
weight, "paying 9d Bterliag per ^b. in England, would amount to the precise sum 
cf jO,000 dollars. The same cargo of cotton at 14 1-2 cents, the average price for 
iiae Louisiana cotton, would not cost at New-Orleans more than 43,500 dollars. 
Thus the exporter would have to pay 6,500 dollars in London, a? a duty for 
liberty to proceed to the continent, more than the original cost — to this might be 
added the various other t jarges of tonnage, ^-c. amounting to about '2000 dollars 
more. 

A cargo of tobacco may be said to consist of 400 hogsheads — for the sake oT 
round numbers, we will suppose each hogshead only to weigh 1000 lbs. and the 
account stnTids thus — 400,000 lbs. Tobacco, atld 1-2 sterling per 
pound, is 22,500 sterling, or $ 11,100 00 

Tonnage, at 125 per ton on 400 tens, is t210 sterling, or 1,065 00 

Light money and various other charges and attendant expenses, 
would amouui to 800 00 



Amount of tribute cn a cargo 12,965 00 

Of the 80,000 hogsheads we generally exported, about 12,000 were consumed 
in the British islands. The rest went to the continent. Put then::, as before, at 
1000 lbs. each, and what is the amount of tribute on this single article ? 
68,000 hogsheads tobacco, weighing each 1000 lbs, is 63,000,000 lbs. at Id 1-2 
sterling per pound, is 2425,000, or $ 1,998,000 00 

170 ships' tonnage, &c. at 2000 dollars each 340,000 00 

Amount of annual tribute on tobacco 2,338,000 00 

A ship would carry about from 3000 to 3500 barrels of flour j say for the sake 
of calculation, 6000 cwt. 

6,000 cwt. at 5s sterling per cwt. amounts to 21500, or $ 6,660 OO 

Tonnage and charges, as above 1,865 60 

Amount of tribute on one cargo of flour 8,525 6Gr 

A ship load of fish would cost about 3500 or 4000 dollar?, induing the dutiea 
and charges.* 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The orders in coundl of November 11, 1807, defended hy Ameri^ 
cans* Founded on the untenable plea of American acquiescence 
in the Berlin Decree, Enquiry into their causes and conse- 
quences by A, Barings Esq. M. P. 

Pernicious as were the orders in council tO the most vital 
interests of the United States- — degrading as was the condition 
of paying a transit duty in English ports — and unjust and us- 
founded as was the allegation on which these orders were pre- 
dicated, there were defenders of them in this country — Ameri- 
cans bora. Among the number were men in high and elevated 
stations, possessing a great degree of public confidence and pen 

* For all these statements and calculations I am indebted to Niles' Weekl|' 
Eegis^r, vol. 3, page 79« 



128 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



ntical influence. It is a most singular fact, that the cause of 
England has been far more ably supported in our debates, and 
In our political speculations and essays, than in London itself. 
There is no man of character or standing in society in that city, 
or in the British parliament, that has attempted to deny the 
magnitude of our wrongs. The ministry and their friends have 
palliated their proceedings by the miserabe plea of necessity — - 
and of retaliation — a plea that Barbarossa, or Koulikan, or Bo- 
naparte, could with equal justice advance. But such respecta- 
ble men as the Roscoes, the Whitbreads, the Barings, have be- 
stowed on the outrageous measures of their government, tlie 
most unqualitied reprobation. I have it not in my power at 
present to refer to the debates in parliament. But I perfectly 
well recollect, and such of my readers as have access to them 
will see at once, that the rectitude of the conduct of our govern- 
ment, and its mild endeavors to procure redress, have received 
the most unequivocal encomiums from some of the most illustri- 
ous characters in Great Britain. 

The respectability of Mr. Alexander Baring is a matter of 
public notoriety throughout the commercial world. There is 
no man in England more attached to the honor and the inter- 
ests of his country, His testimony has been, as I have said, 
uniformly borne in our favor, and against the enormous injustice 
of the orders in council — and as it cannot fail to have a w^eight 
proportioned to his talents, integrity, and character I shall very 
freely quote from such an unexceptionable source. 

The orders in council of Nov. 11, 1807, were, as we have 
seen, predicated upon our acquiescence in the Berlin decree. — 
Mr. Baring having stated the fact,* that this decree not having 
been put into operation against our commerce, w e had had no 
right to remonstrate against it, proceeds, 

" Unless, therefore, his majesty's ministers liave some information of which the 
public is not possessed, and which contradicts the very clear evidence the public 
ho possess, we must conclude that the assertion in the orders in council that 
America had been ^ilty of that acquiescence in the decrees of France, which 
wss to draw down, and has drawn down upon her, our menaced retaliation, is 
totally void of foii7idation.''^f 

The fallacy of the allegation of an acquiescence in the Ber- 
lin decree having been proved, Mr. Baring thus accounts for 
the Milan decree, which was the offspring of the orders in coun- 
cil of November 11, 1807. 

*' If what has been stated, be correct, that our orders in council are not jnsti- 
fifd bv any previous provocation,, Thvy must be evidently ads of original ag- 
gression ; and France retaliated much in the same manner and with the same 
right as we ourselves should have done, liiad the Berlin decree been rigidly ext-> 
cuted.'^t 

* See page 121. Baricg^s Enquiry, page 70. \ Wi^^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



129 



The foiio'vving masterly analysis of the orders in council is 

taken from Mr. Baring's pamphlet. 

" All trade directly /rem AjneHca to every ptrf and cmntry at war nith Great 
Britzin^ 07 from rjhich ikz British Jlag is exclicded, is totally prohibited In this 
^e7ieral prohibition^ every part 0/ Europe, mt'i the excevHon ci present qf S:vedenj 
IS included: and no distincfioji rvhatever made belwien the ddmsstic produce cf 
America, and that of the eolonies, re-exported from the^\ce I ! 1 

The trade from America to the colonies of all nations, remains unaltered by 
the present order. America may export the produce cf her onn ccuniry^ but that 
of no other, to Sjccden. 

" With the above exception, all article?, T^hc'Iipr of domestic cr cc!osial pro- 
duce, csported by America to Europe, must hnded in this cotmlry I England] 
from whence it is intended to permit their exportatioD, untler huch regulations as 
shall be liereafter determined. 

By these regulations it is u:*derstood that diUlUs ere to he imposed on all arti- 
cles so re-exported . Bat ii is iiitimated that-aa exceptioji will bs made in favor of 
such as are the produce of the Uaittxl St^.tes. cotton excepted. 

Any vessel, the cargo whereof shall be accompanied with certificates of 
French consuls abroad, of its origin, shall, together with its car>o, be liable to 
seizure Stnd coiidemnatiou."* 

It is here proper to make a solemn pause. The subject de- 
iserves the deepest, the most serious reflection. Let us examine 
this sketch, drawn by a masterly hand, beyond the reach of 
suspicion. Let us consider the despotic, the lawless claims it 
asserts — the prostrate, the base, the despicable state it places the 
commerce and the rights of a sovereign, an independent, and 
uno'ifending nation—a nation v>iiose trade was of incalculable 
Importance to the power thus daring to legislate for us, and de- 
stroy our dearest rights of sovereignty', When this is ail fairly^ 
and duly weighed, let us correctly appreciate the conduct of so 
many Americans, w ho have asserted with a zeai Avorthy of a 
good cause, that England " has reaifj^ done our commerce no 
essential injury !"t The annals of the world can produce no- 
thing more iiKlefensible— nothing more astonishing. 

The end proposed by the British government in this stispen*- 
dous project of usurpation, is thus ably sketched. 

*' [X^T^ The Americans are to bring io this country all ike produce of tkeir own^ 
and ati that of our enemies'' colonies, which ihey erpjri i-j jiurope. W e are here 
to form a grand,emporiaai of tlie costly produce of Asia and America, which is 
to be dispensed to the diiferent countries of Europe, under such regulations as we 
may think proper, I suppose, according to their good behavior, Taxes are 

tj be raised from the consumers on the continent ; aad they are to be contrived 
With such judicious skill as to secure our own V/ est India planters a preference to 
those of Cuba and Martinieue.-i 

The American merchaiit, with the best intentions of tradfing legally, cannot 
ulways know wliat this country permits ; for we admit that uphoMLog a general 
prmciple which we never enforce, we may and do vary our permission to neutrals 
under it as we please. Supposino him ie'^this respect not liable to error, he is ex- 
posed to ^unjust decisions in Vur vice admiralty courts — a danger of do commoc 
magnitude, if we are to believe the assertioa of lord Hawkesbury ih the hoese ef 

* Baring's Enquiry, page 12. f Mr. Pickering's letter to gov. ^ullivac, page 12. 
I Barmg's ETAXairy, page H>, 

M ^ 



132 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



" The comprehensive nature of the injury which America must suffer from c 
sjy stem, by leavino; no class of it^ po»)ulation unafFected by it, affords iiltlf hop; 
of the interference of any for the preservation of peace. The great interest; 
which a country still possessing the means of independence, should feel in the 
pref^ervation of ours, will be lost in the more immediate and perceplible coii- 
sequences of our folly and injustice-'**" 

The new orders were of a description to produce a revolution in the whole 
commerce of the world — nud a total derangement of those mutual rights and re- 
lations by which civilized nations have hitlierto been connected 

" It mast be evident from the whole tenor of our proceedings, lliat commercial 
interest has been our moving principle throughout ; that every demonstra- 
tion of the slightest hostility on tke other side, has originait;d in our attempts to 
advance that interest in vivolating the rights and interests of others; ?.nd that 
if we are at la«t called upon to take up arms, it is on our part a quarrel 
^bout sugar and coffee, and not in support of national honor.'-; 

*' rrj=> The consequences of such a state of things must produce ruin to every 
class ^ind description of persons in Anjerica; and they are so obvious, so inevita- 
ble^ that CC9 caiinot avoid thinking, that they must have occurred to the framers 
of this new system. "o 

*' To make this limitation of neutral trade a part of the law of nations, it is 
not sufficient tiiat it should be asserted by one power. — It must likewi-«- be ad- 
mitted by others j whicli is so far from having been the case, that in all cur disr 
cussions about neutral rigiiis, we have not only never obtained from any nation a 
rerognition of this rule, but [rj^ it does cot even appear to have been at any 
lime seriously insisted upon.'' jj 

What can then be the object of holding up this rule [cf 1756] as the palla- 
dium of our Ktaritime right?, or why has it lain so long dormant Instead of 
America being accused of a disposition of encroachment hostile to our digrlty, m 
jefusing to admit into the law of nations, a principle which has neither been ad- 
mitted by or enforced towards others, are we not rather ourselves wanting to 
our own dignity in proclaiming a law which we uave never ventured to defend— 
in setting up a right, which, by our own treaties with forcigu nations, we have our- 
selves encouraged them to trample on."^ 

It would have been "hlglily interesting to know I;cw many instances [of 
fraudulent ownership] had been discovered ; as by pointiiig them cut to our gov- 
ftrament, redress might have been obtained by application to that of America, 
whose stiict attention to tiie character of lier flag has alwavs been remarks- 
ble."^ 

*^ I must say, and I speak from considerable experience, that the character of 
llie great body of merchants in America, little deserves the unjust insinuations in 
which writers on tliis subject have iiic!dged."ff 

During a considerable part of the la^t an<] present war, we have indeed res- 
pected the rights of those not coricerned in it. rr^ But the conduct even of 
of France can furnish few stronger proofs of a diti egard of them, and of more 
,fiivolous pretences by which they have been invaded, than may be found in our 
conduct in 1805, and stili more lu the lecent measures which we have bees con- 
gidering.":|.|: 

If our commercial treaties wiUi Portugal are to be held up, as they have 
been, to the admiration of statesmen, we cannot fall to admire the liberal policy 
of America towards the produce of our industry, when we consider the large bal- 
ance which she annually pays us, and our illiberal jealousy of her intercourse with 
other countries, from which alone that balance can be paid."i5 

If my former observations produce, as I think they must, a conviction that 
the trade and property so sported with, belonp" to an honest neutral, there can be 
po doubt that OUR CONDUCT TOWARDS IT DESERVES THE NAMB 
OF THE MOST UNQUALIFIED INJUSTICE. ''iijj 

* Enquiry, page 78. f Idem, page 10. Idern, page 79. 

5 Idem, page 13. || Idem, page 22. V Idem, "page 23. 

^ Idem, page 32. ff Idem, page 36. jt Idem, page 7h 

B Idem, page 83. [jj) Idem^ page 57 ^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



The reader who compares the style and substance of ihe 
memorials, with Mr. Baring's essay, will find tiiat concidence, 
that cogency, that irresistible conviction which result from truth 
and honorable principles. The American merchants, eloquently 
and convincingly pleading for the rights of their country, and 
their own personal interests, unjustly assailed — speak nearly 
the same language, and make use of the sam.e arguments, as 
31 r. Baring, when he sought to save his country from the dis- 
grace and dishonor of employing her transcendant naval power 
to overwhelm and prey upon the commerce of an unoffending 
neutral, merely because that neutral was not in a state to defend 
herself. 

I trust that no apology can be necessary for these copious 
extracts on this all-important topic. The high standing and 
character of the writer, as I have already observed, and take 
the liberty to repeat, entitle his sentiments to peculiar attention. 
Moreover, as an English merchant, interest, were he swayed 
by such*a consideration, would have led him to advocate the 
orders. But he had too high a regard for the honor of his coun- 
try, to wish it to be sacrificed to paltry, and sordid considera- 
tions of interest. 

After the reader has with the deep attention the subject de- 
serves, perused the above eloquent defence of American rights 
—exposure of our wrongs — and appeal to the honor and justice 
of Great Britain, written by a high-spirited and noble-minded 
Englishman, let him ponder for a moment on the conduct of 
those Americans who have devoted their talents, their industry, 
and their influence to defend the outrageous proceedings of 
Great Britain, and to place their own country in the wrong! 

Whata humiliating contrast ! — Mr. Baring pleading the cause 
of the itijured United States in London — and Mr. Pickenng and 
Jiundrecls of other Americans pleading in Boston, New-York, 
Philadelphia and elsewhere against their own country, and in 
defence of British inroads and British violence ! 

The contemplation fills the mind with astonishment ! Not- 
withstanding the evidence is so fully before us, as to be irresist- 
ible, it is ditScult to believe that such an awful delusion could 
have ever existed, and to such an extravagant extent 

I aver, as my calm and reflected opinion upon this point, 
that it would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to find in history 
any parallel case. Enlightened American merchants were so 
far blinded by party and faction, as to use their utmost endeav- 
ors to prevent the government of their country from procuring 
redress of intolerable grievances %vhich bo?e so heavily on 
themselves ! 



134 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Cn AFTER 2l:^iv. 

E^Tibargo. Situation cf American canunercc. Faclims cUuiicr. 
Embargo a rjise, prudent, and necessary measure. 

I No^v proceed to consider the sul>jeci of the embargo, Tvblch 
"was one of the most potent instruments employed to exasperate 
and inflame the passions of the people of the eastern states, and 
which actually prepared a portion of them for open resistance 
to the government* 

The justice and propriety of every measure depend on the 
circumstances that accompany and induce it — the motives that 
iead to its adoption — and the consequences it is calculated to 
produce. Let us apply these tests to the embargo. 

The reader has had the decrees and orders in council laid 
before him in extenso. He has seen the exposition of the injus- 
tice of the latter by Mr. Baring. And he has had an opportunity 
himself of calculating the effects of both decrees and orders. 

From a calm consideration of these documents, and of their 
inevitable operation on our trade, it is perfectly obvious that 
had our vessels sailed in December, 1807, and January, Febru- 
ary, March, April, and May, 1808, as freely as they had for- 
merly done, they would have universally fallen sacrifices ; 
those bound to France and her dependencies, to British — and 
those bound for the British dominions, to French cruisers. 

This would have produced an almost universal bankruptcy^ 
among our insurance ofiices and merchants. The plunder of 
our ships and cargoes, and the captivity of our seamen, would 
have augmented the resources of the belligerents, and enfeebled 
ourselves. The only real question was, whether our vessels^ 
fehould remain at our wharves, the property of our merchants,, 
or be carried to France and England, the prey of privateers* 
But for the embargo, there would have been such a calamitous 
scene produced as has rarely occurred in any nation. We 
should have suffered all the worst consequences of war, without 
any of its compensatory advantages. Our merchants would 
have once more made "the welkin ring'' with their complaints _^ 
of injury — their eloquent appeals to the law of nations — thei? 
clamors for redress— their reproaches of the government for ik* 
supineness — ^and their solemn^' pledges of support. We should 
have again had to negociate in vain for reparation. And W3 

* ! had written ** lioUow and deceplious." But I struck the words out — how 
properly the refLfler wUl decide. I am doubtful myself of the correctae?? of the. 
alteratioot 



THE OLIYE BRx\NCH. 



135 



ahould have been iiUiinately goaded into a war, after having 
been defeated in our endeavors to escape it, and deprived of the 
most efficient means for its prosecution. 

It has been said that the Berlin decree not having been carried 
into operation against American vessels ; and our government 
not having received an authentic copy of the orders in council ; 
therefore it was not justified in the recommendadon of the 
embargo. And thus that degree of vigilance and care of the 
interests of his countiy and of the property of the merchants, 
which entitled Mr. Jeiferscn to a monument from the mercantile 
interest, has been made the ground-work of the most serious 
accusation ! 

There is no measure of the general government from its first 
organization to the present hour, more strongly marked v»'ith 
wisdom, with foresight, and with attention to dutj', than this 
recommendation. There is, nevertheless, no measure that has 
generated more factious or senseless clamor — more envenomed 
prejudice — more unblushing misrepresentation. 

The atrocious case of the Horizon, which was the first in- 
stance wherin the Berlin decree was carried into effect against 
American vessels, had previously occurred. Of this case Mr. 
Armstrong had transm.itted an account in a letter dated Nov. 
12, 1807, of which I have submitted a copy to the reader.* — 
This letter and the documents accompanying it, established, 
beyond a possibility of doubt, the extreme danger of cur com- 
merce from French depredation, French cruisers, and French 
courts. 

Of the determination of the British government to meet the 
Berlin decree with measures of equal violence, undoubted in- 
ftjTmation had been received by our administration in private 
letters, and even in the public papers. The recommendation 
of the embargo took place on the Itih of December, 1807 : and 
IIT^c^n that day tlure had been published in the National Intelli- 
gencerth^foUomng paragraph from a London peper : 

^London, November 10. 
*' A proclamation is cow, we understaird, in readine£s for his lOfijesty's signature, 
declaring France and the whole of her vassal kingdoms in a state of siege, and 
[r[l=9prohibitiu|: all intercourse with her or them — and all entrance of vessels into 
iier or their harbors. rrr'EXCEPT OF SUCH AS HAVE CLEARED LAST 
FROM A BUITlSHrORT, EITHER HOME OR FOREIGN." 

. Thus, between the two nations, our commerce was complete- 
ly cut up by the roots. The only part of Europe, except her 
own dominions and dependencies, with which Great Britain 
allowed ds to trade, was Sweden. And the Milan decree, by 



* See page 122. 



136 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



tin extravag:ance of despotisnij foily, and wickedness, never e\= 
ceeded in the aniitifs of piracy and rapine, regarded every neu- 
trai vessel, that h id been se^^rched by a B ritish cruiser, as ipso 
facto daiaimialhed. and liable to be taken, bound whence or 
^bere she might. The mhi(i is lost in astonishment at this iic 
plus tdtra of wickedness, madness, and rapine, it \\£s punish- 
ing as criminal, an act uerfectiy innocent — ^^wholly unavoidable 
—and in which the party pnnisrhed had been njerely passi* e ! 
. Under these circumstances, what prudent merchant would 
send a vessel to sea — liable to capture, whatever niight be her 
{kslinalion ? For even if bound to Sweden, or any other cor- 
ner of Eurojje, (if any such there were) not embraced in the 
^cope of decrees and orders in ceuncil, she might be searched 
by an English privateer, and thus be subject to capture by the 
next French privateer that might overhaul her. 

What course had a government to steer, which, bound to 
watch over the interests of its constituents, was sincerely dis- 
posed to perform" that duty faithfully ? Let any man not tram- 
meled by faction or inveterate prejudice, calmly consider this 
(juesrion, and 1 feel most perfectly satisfied, he will reply — 
the alternative was, war against )x)th nations— or a general em- 
bargo. 

Notwithstanding this plain state of the case — notv/ithstand- 
Ing the imperious necessity of this measure — -there was, as I 
have stated, no act of the federal government, since its first or- 
ganization, that excited so much outcry or clamor. It was the 
subject of incessant abuse in all the federal papers from New- 
Hampshire to CJeorgia, and fiom the Mississip:>i to the x^tlantic. 
It has been ten thousand times reiterated, that it w as unnecess- 
arily oppressive— that it was wicked and tyrannical — rlictated 
by Napoleon — a sacrfice of the dearest interests cf the nation 
—and, to cap the climax, miconstitulionoL 

In times of faction, the public possesses a won lerful faculty 
of swallowing the most monstrous and improbable falsehoods.— 
It was almost universally believed in the Eastern States, that 
the embargo w^as the result of a comhinatiGn hetrv^m the Southern 
and Western States^ to ruin the Eastern ! ! t 1 have repeatedly 
heard this assertion made by men otherwise of sound minds and 
cultivated understandings, and whose veracity convinced me 
that they did not attempt deception, but were themselves de- 
ceived. This extravagant idea proceeds upon the miserable 
and fatuitious supposition, that the merchant, whose vessels re- 
main unemployed at the wharves, will in consequence be ruin- 
ed; but that the agriculturalist, whose wheat, fiour, rice, cotton, 
naval stores, &c. stagnate on his hands* will thereby sufifer no 



THE OLIVt: BRANCH. 



137 



injury, or rather derive advantage, althougb they fall in value 
30, 40, 60, or 60 per cent. 'Tis passing strange ! 

Never Avas there a more factious or unfounded clamour esci- 
ted. Never, I repeat, was a public measure more loudly called 
for by existing circumstances, nev^r one better timed, and nev- 
er one that would have produced more salutary consequences, 
had not faction deprived it of its efficacy. 

I feel perfectly satisfied, that with the knowledge Mr. Jeffer- 
son possessed, of the mighty dangers impending over our com- 
merce, he would have justly merited impeachment for a dere- 
liction of his duty, had he not recommended an embargo for its 
protection. 

Mr. Pickering, was the earliest, the most ardent, and the 
most zealous opponent of the embargo. After having in vaia 
made every exertion in the Senate to prevent its passing, he la- 
boured, and unfortunately with too much success, to excite a 
strenuous and seditious opposition to it in his own state, and m 
the other Eastern States. He wrote a long, elaborate, and im- 
passioned letter against it to the governor of Massachusetts, in 
which he endeavored to prove the measure wholly unnecessary 
— dictated by France — and adopted purel}^ through hostility to 
England, who, he unqualifiedly asserted, " had done our com- 
merce no essential injury." 

To form a correct idea of the embargo, it must be considered 
in two points of view, wholly distinct — one, its original enac- 
tion — the other its long duration. The latter may have been, 
and I believe was, an error. But I should not hesitate at this 
moment to submit the decision of the question to Governor 
Strong, Rufus King, George Cabot, or James Lloyd, jun. 
whethifr an embargo was net an indispensible measure, at a pe- 
riod when all Europe, except Sweden, was declared in a state 
of blockade ? 

The embargo was laid on the 23d of December, 1807. Mn 
Pickering's letter was dated Feb. 16, 1808, when it had not 
been two months i?i operation ; of course its denunciations 
must have besa levelled against the enaction of the law — and 
had no reference whatever to its duration. 

To enable the reader to form a correct estimate of the sound- 
ness of Mr. Piciiering's denunciation of this measure, let it be 
ol served, that at the date of his letter, ^fiiU and aidketitic in- 
fonnaiion had arrived in this emmtry, of the er/orce^nent of the 
Berlin decree, and of the enactivn ofilie orders in comieil, and of 
the Milan decree, 

I deem it therefore highly proper to place Mr. Pickering'- 
declarations ia contrast witli each other — and likewise wi'li ihe 

N 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



real state of affliirs. The reader will then be enabled to decide 
the question correctly himself. 

Let me explain the four succeeding columns. The first con- 
tains a statement of the British depredations on American com- 
merce, abstracted from the mercantile memorials of 1805-C — 
the second, Mr. Baring's statement of the effects of the orders in 
council — the third, the resolution of the Senate, Feb. 10, 1806, 
on 7v1iich Mr. Pickering voted in the affirraative^ ami the fourth, 
Mr, Pickering's vindication of England, Feb. 16, 1808. 

The three first paragraphs of the first column are from the 
Boston Memorial, signed by James Lloyd, George Cabot, <lx. 
'These gentlemen are responsible for the truth or falsehood of the 
allegations, in which the British government is ahnost in terms 
charged with absolute piracy : for, according to Messrs. Lloyd 
and Cabot, and their friends, they were, preying upon the un- 
protected property of a friendly power which is but a mild form 
of expression for piracy. 

1805--6. 1808. Mr. Picter- Mr.Picker- 

MEMORIALS. MR. BARING. ing's senti- ing'ssenti- 

— ____ .. ments, Feb. ments,Feb 

"We confine ourselves to All trade directly from 10, 1806. ir>, 1803. 

the more alarming, because America to every port and — 

Tiiore ext£7isive detentions country atwarnith Great "The cap- These 
Londemnaiions of American Britain y or from nhich the ture and con- facts dem- 
xtssels by Great Briiainy^ British flag is excluded^ is deiunation un- onstrate, 

" New vessels, on their totally prohibited. In this der orders of that altho' 
Srst passage from the U. general prohibition^ every the British go- England, 
States to Europe, are arres- part of Europe^ with the ex- vemment, and with her 
ted, carried out of their cepfionaf j}7'€se?ii o/*»S'n'eJen adjudications thousand 
course, and injuriously de- is included : and no distinc- of their courts ships of war 
tained under the vexatious Hon whatever is made be- of admiralty, could liave 
pretence of a continuity of tneenthe domestic produce of oi American destroyed 
Toyage from the country or America., &c that of the col- vessels and our corn- 
colony of a belligerent."* 07iies, re-exported from theif cargoes, merce, 

** It cannot become the thence.''''^ on the pretext SHE HAS 

magnanimity of a great and It would probably be no cf their being REALLY 
powerful nation to prey up- exaggeration to say that up- employed in a DONE IT 
071 the unprotected property wards of three fourths of all trade with the NO ES- 
vf a fnendly power. '''^^ the merchants.^ seamen, S(c. enemies of G. SENTJAL 
" Having totally suppres- engagedin commerce or nav- Britain, prohi- INJURY, J 

sed the external commerce igation in America^ hare^ at bited in time 

of her enemies, Great Bvit- some time or other, suffered of peace, is an o Letter 
cin is now counselled to ap~from acts of our cruisers, unprovoked from the 
propriate to herself o/" which to them have appear- aggression up- hon. Timo- 
Aer/neruis."t ed unjust, and which fre- on Me jTTo^erf^/ thy Picker- 

" This novel principle quently must have been so. of the citizens ing, senator 
goes to nothing short of the They read, it is true, of the of the United from Mass. 
destruction ^f neutral com- power of France. BUT States-a viola- to his ex'cy 
fnerce."^ THEY FEEL EVERY Hon of their J. Sullivan, 
., 1 i ' . neutral rights gov. of said 

* Boston memorial. * Baring's Examination, — and an en- state, dated 

f New-York memorial, page 12. croachment February 16 

i Philadelphia memorial. 1808, p. 12. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

Mermrials -\m-0. Mr. Barhig -\m. Mr.PicktHng 

Every sail is stretched DAY THAT OF BRIT- upon their m- 
f.n colled the unrvaryAmeri- AlIS."* tional inde^ 

cans, rvho are unsuspecting- By attempting to con- pendente.''* 

ly eonhding in what was the fine the European trade of ; — 

Uiw of nations.""^ America to Great Britain, * Resolution 

*^ Our vessels and effects, and by the avowal of an in- agreed to by 
to a large amount, have tention to tax that trade on the senate of 
lately been captured by her its passage to the continent, the U. State?, 
commissioned cruisers, up- n-e are returning \o VioseV^h. 10,1806. 
on the foundation of new principles, to which, even as See pi.^e 109. 
principles, suddenly invent- a colony, she nouldnot sub- 
Q^/'^f mit It is immaterial, whe- 

*' The revival of her dis- ther it be a tax on stamps.or 
carded rule was character- on cotton. This question 
ined with such circumstan- has been already the sub- 
ces of iniquity and violence ject ©f a long and bloody 
as rather to heighten by the war ; and it can hardly be 
contrast the veneration of -supposed that America will 
mankind for the past justice now submit to a direct at- 
of her tribunals, tack on her sovereign and 

, ^ independent rights. *'t 

* Philadelphia memorial. — • 

T Baltimore memorial. * Baring's ExamiaatioQg 

page 74. 

f Idem, page 76. 

It is not for me, to reconcile Mr. Pickering's sentiments^ to 
each other — nor to the tenor of the Memorials — nor to Mr. Bar- 
ing's correct view of the orders in conncil. Let it be observed, 
let it never be forgotten, that the " unprovoked aggression'^ of 

1806, remained unredressed at the date of the letter to Govern- 
or Sullivan, February, 1808. And further, to this " unprovoked 
aggression^^ of 1806, the orders in council bad been added in 

1807, which more than quintupled the original outrage. But 
even independent of this extravagant addition, it is out of my 
power, by all the rules of logic at my command, to satisfy my 
mind how " tlie capture and condemnation of our vessels''^ — under 
false "^fretoi^,," and, as appears by the memorials of the mer- 
chants, to a most enormous amount — " the unprovoked aggress- 
ion upon the property of our citi^ens^^—ihe '^violaticn of our neu- 
tral rights'^ — and encroacJiinerd upon our national independ^ 
ehce''^ can be made to accord with the broad, the sweeping, the 
unqualified assertion that Great Britain has really done our 
commerce no esserdial injury, 

* Some of the friends of Mr^ Pickering, in order to destroy thie effect of the in- 
consistency of these sentiments, have asserted that be did not make the declaration 
that England had done our commerce no essential injury." I dare Mr. Pick- 
ering thus publicly and explicitly in the face of this nation to deny it hinaself. |4 
pledge myself.to prove it iaeontrovertibly. But he never will dare a deoiaU 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



To be serions. The subject requires seriousness and sobrie- 
ty. Is not this a most astonishing and never-enough-to-be-!a- 
mented instance of the liorrible delusion in which strong party 
passions involve those who submit to their guidance ? Can 
light and darkness — vice and virtue — seraphs and demons — be 
more opposite to each other than these assertions are ? "Would 
it not have been a m -at awful inconsistency had they both been 
Gotemporaneous — had the stale of affairs, at the period of mak- 
ing the second, been exactly v, hat it was at the period of making 
the first ? But what an immense aggravation d^es this incon- 
sistency receive from the consideration, that in Feb. 1808, the 
first grievances had been unredressed, and others, as I have sta- 
led, incomparably more intolerable, been added ? The orders 
in council were, in outrage, and injustice, and infraction of our 
rights cf sovereignty, e.s far beyond the enforcement of the rule 
of 1756, which was the ground of complaint in 180G, as wanton 
murder is beyond mere assault and battery. 

Never was I more deceived in my life, than I am at this mo- 
ment, if every candid unbiassed reader do not agree with me, 
that the opposition to the operation of the embargo, was factious, 
disorganizing, absurd, and impolitic in the extreme; and that 
those who rendered the law nugatory and unavailing have a 
high crime to answer for to their injured country. 

To avoid the pressure of the embargo ^ind to hold out induce- 
Boents to our citizens to violate it, and to leave port clandes- 
tinely, the following most extraordinary order in council was 
published by the British governments. . 

George R. 

Instmctions to the commanders of mir ships of war and pnvaieers^ 
Given at cur court at Windsor^ the Wth day of Jprily ISOS, in 
the 4Uh year of our reign, 

' Out will and pleasure is, that you do not interrupt any^ neutral vessel laden 
with lumber and provisions, and going to any of our coioniss, islands, or settle- 
ments in the West Indies, or South America, to whomsoever the property may appear 
to belongs and noinithsianding siich vessel may not have regular clearances and 
documenis on board ! ! ! And in case any vessel shall be met ^Yith, and being ca 
lj<er due course to the alledged port of destination, an endorsement shall be made 
on one or more of the principal papers of such vessel, specifying the destination 
alledged, and the place where the vessel ^as so visited. And in case any vessel 
so laden shall arrive and deliver her cargo at any of our colonies, islands, or 
settlements aforcaid, f^uch vessel shall be permitted t© receive her freight, and 
to depart, either in ballast, or with any goods that may be legally exported m 
mch vessel, and to proceed to any unblockaded port ; iiotwithstandtng the present 
hostilities, or ?ny future hostilities which may take place. And a passport for 
mch vessel may be granted io the vessel by the governor or other person^ having tha 
ih'''/ckU a^Tamand of suck colonyy iilandy^r scitUme:it ! 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



141 



^hU astonishing document demands the most particular and 
pointed attention.— The ministers who prostituted the name of 
their sovereign by subscribing it to such an instrument, merit 
and must receive the reprobation of every high-minded English- 
man, ^vho feels for the honor or dignity of his native country.— 
The world has never seen such another instrument. And I 
hope there will never be another instance of the kind. I be- 
lieve that this order alone was adequate cause of war. This at 
least is certain, that many wars have been declared upon inii- 
nitely less provocation. What! one of the most potent moii'- 
archs in the world, rather than do justice to an unoa*ending na- 
tion, on which for fourteen years, his ministers had perpetrated 
the most flagrant outrages, invites, and tempts, and affords fa- 
cilities to its citizens, to violate the laws of their country, and 
openlv pursue the infamous trade of smuggling ! 

The subject affords an ample field for and invites to copiojs 
comments. But I forbear. 1 leave it to the calm considera» 
tion of the candid reader. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Enquirij into the Constituiionality cf the Act for enforcing fJie 
Embargo, Comjjared with ads passed during the jrresidenaf 
of General Washington and John Adams, Not so rigour cu^; 
Factious clamor. Lamentable public delusion. 

The original embargo act had been openly and flagranHy 
violated. The public prints in Boston had audaciously and 
seditiously invited the citizens to set it at defiance. The Eritisii 
government had also, as we have seen, added the allurement of 
its powerful invitation. Such an invitation was unnecessary. 
There are always to be found in every community, men who 
will seek the shortest road to fortune, whether through the dark 
paths of smuggling, or otherwise. And these men united their 
obstreperous brawlings, with the clamor raised by those whose 
grand object was to harass the government, for the chance of 
regaining the powder they had lost. Thus was removed from 
the crime of smuggling, the odium it deserved, and transferred 
to an act calculated to preserve the property of the merchants 
fi*om belligerent depredation; an act, be it never forgotten, 
w^hich was the mildest mode of procuring that redress for which 
the mercantile part of the community had so loudly clamored — 
and in the pursuit of which, they had so solemly pledged tkensr 
selves^ to support the government ! ! t y 

N Z 



/ M 



142 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



To prevent these evasions, an act was passed to enforce the 
embargo. This was necessarily more strict and severe in its 
provisions than the original act. Meetings were held in various 
parts of the United States, denouncing the latter as oppressive 
and unconstitutional. A very numerous and respectable one- 
•was held in the city of Philadelphia, attended hy a large pro- 
portion of the merchanis, and a great number of other citi- 
zens. Of this meeting Commodore Truxton was chairman. — 
Sundry resolutions w^ere passed, which embraced the essence cf 
all the objections raised against it throughout the union. I shall 
assume these resolutions as a text to reason upon, and shall 
endeavor to refute the objections, 

Duringthe administration of General Washington, an embargo 
act had been passed by Congress. And during his administra- 
tion, and that of Mr. Adams, various other acts had been passed 
embracing prohibitory and penal clauses of a tenor similar to 
those of the embargo law. No federalist will pretend that any 
of those acts were unconstitutional. Some of their clauses were 
far more exceptionable than those of Mr. Jefferson's embargo act. 
If therefore, the latter contain no provision whatever, which h 
not substantially to be found in those passed during the admin- 
istration of the tv/o first presidents^ I presume that there is not 
a candid federalist in the union who will hesitate to admit, that 
the clamor against the former, as unconstitutional, was truly^ 

factious, disorganizing, seditious, and Jacobinical." 

The 9th, 10th and 11th sections were trie most rigorous, the 
most obnoxious ; and, of course, were selected by the Philadel- 
phia meeting, as proper subjects of denunciation. I shall t here- 
fore fairly collate them with the corresponding sections of the 
former embargo and other acts, passed during the reign of fed- 
eralism, to enable the reader to form his opinion : 

Proceedings of a Meeting of the Citizens af Fhiladclphiay Commodort 

Truxton in the Chair. 

** Resclvcdy That we consider the late act of Con-^ress, commoaly called The 
enforcing law," to be a direct invasion of the established prindples of civil liberty, 
and of the express provicioiis of the con?tituuc»i; as arbilraiy aud severe to a degi ee 
tinnecegsary, even to accomplish the objects for which the law is professed to have 
"been enacted j as creating an enormous and dangerous aupijei:tation of executive 
IniSuence and power ; and as unnecessarily exposing the ciliseEi to the miseries of 
civil discord aPxd military execution. 

" Resolved^ That the 9th section of tliis act, which authorises a niiaisterial officer , = 
vrithout process (flaR\ to seize goods at his discretion, under a pretence that he. 
believes they are intended for exportatioxi, or apparenily on the way for tiie terri- 
tories of a foreign power, is, in our opinion, a breach of the fourth article of the 
amendments to the constitution, which provides, " that the right of the people to 
be secure in their persons, houses, papers and elfects, against unreasonable searches 
and seizures, shall not be violated and of the 5th article of the smendments^. 
^hich declares,'' that no man shall be deprived m iife^ libcr-y or property ,.bat 
Jue process of iaw.'^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



14^ 



»ENFORCiXGL.\W.' PRECEDENTS 
Signed by JLFFEasoN. Signed hy Washington and Adams. 

1. ' That the collectors of 1. * Tliat every collector, naval officer, and si:?-- 

* all the tiistricts of the U. * veyor, or other person especially appointed by ciiker' 

* States, bhrill be, and la^ y ' of ihzm for tliat purpose, s'lall have fall power and 

* rre hereby autho; ir-e to * authority to er.itr any ship or vessdy in vrhich tliey 

* U'keinto lheircuht'>d'j?Y^2Q':e * shall /ijre rc2srn to slsfect awy goods, '.vareg or 

* or any artL^es of domestic ' rnerciiaiidise subject to duty shall be concealecl, 

* growth, produce, or mana- ' and therein to search for, seize, and secure any 

* factiire, found on board cf ' such floods, ware.-, and mercliandi.-e,' &c. — See 
^ any ship or v ess eL hori or act ci liist July, 17J39, sect. 24. Act of 4ta August, 

* ciher water crcft^ w'len 1790, sect. 43. 

* there is reason to IrJitve. * Tiiat it shall be the duty of the several officerj 

* that they are inttndid for ' of the customs to make seizure of and secure any 

* exportc.ttoii : ' ship or vessel, goods, wares or merchandise which 

2. * Or when in vcsseh, ' shall be liable to seizure by virtue of this act, c.i 
' carts, waggons, sleighs, or * nell rAthout^ as within their respective di^jtricls.'* — 

* any other or^niai-e : or in See sect." 26 and ^0 of the same act. — See also, act 
^ any m:i7Uier cpp'iretitly cn of the 2d Marcii, I71>9, sect. G3, 70. 

* tAcirTirai/ towards tiie terri- * Tiiat it shall be lawful for any officer of th? 

* to ry of a foreign nation, or * revenue, to go on board of any ship or vessel, 
' the vicinity thereof, or to- ' whether she sliaM be within, or without his district, 

* wards a place where such ' and Ihe same to inspect, search, and examine ; 

* articles are intended to be * and if it shall appear^ that any breach of the lavv s 

* exported, * of the United States, has been committed, 

3. ' And not to permit such * to make seizure of the same.' — See act of the 8tli 

* articles to be removed, until February, 1793, sect, 27. 

* boad wiih sufScicnt sureties * That any of the aforesaid articles (arm8 and 
' shall have been given for * ammunition) excepting such of them as may cou- 
' the landing or the delivery *[stitate a part ot the equipment of any vessel, 

* of the same in some place of * winch, during the continuance of this prohibition^ 

* the United States, wliere, ' shall bs found on board of any vessel in any river, 

* in the opinion of tlie collect- ' port, bey, or harbor, within the territory of the 

* or, there shall not be any * United States, iiith on intent to be exported 
' danger of such articles be- * from the United States, to any foreign country, 
^ ing exported.' Law? of the * shall be forfeited,' (Tec— See act of 22d May, 1794,- 
U. States, vol. IX, page i»2, sect. 2. 

tect. 9. of the act to enforce * That aU goods, wares, and merchandise brought^ 
^je cEsbargo, ' into tiie United States hy land^ contrary to this 

' act, shall be forfeited, together with the carriages^ 

* horses and oa:en, that shaii be employed in carry-- 
'iing the same ; provided nothing herein shall be 

* construed to extend to household furniture and 
'clothing, belongir.g to any person, or persons, 

* actually coming into any part of th3 United States, 

* for the purpose' of becoming an inhabitant, or in^- 
' habitants thereof.' — See act of ith August, 17&0^ 
sect. 70. 

That it shall be lawful for the Prssident of the 

* Ueited States, to give instructions to the com- 

* maaders of the public armed ships of the United 
*' States to stop and examine, any ship or vessel of 
' the United States on the liigh seas, which Vm't 
^ rwy.y he reason to suspect to be engaged in any 

* traiSc or commerce contTa.Ty to the true tenoE 
"Iterecf, &c, — Act of 9th February, 1709, f.ect. ^ 



144 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



REMARKS 

On the ' Enforcing On the Precedents, 

LawJ' 

1. "Ministerial of- 1. "xtfiniste rial officers are authorised 
ficers are authorised to act without process cf law. 

to act without process 
of ia\v. 

2. Ministerial of- 2. " Ministerial ofScers, or other per- 

ficers may take goods S07is specially appointed by them^ may en- 
into their custody ter any ship or vessel, and seize the 
found on board of any goods on board, as 7vell rciihout as with- 
ship or vessel. in their respective districts : and com- 

manders of public vessels may seize- 
ships on the high seas, bound to, or sail- 
ing towards any interdicted French 
portj there being reason to suspect an il- 
licit traific. 

3. " Ministerial of- 3. " Ministerial officers, or any per- 
ficers, without process, son appointed by them ^ may enter any 
may seize goods on vessel, in which they have reason to sus- 
board of any vessel, peel goods subject to duty are conceal- 
when there is reason to ed, <&:c. And if it shall appear to them, 

thatthey are ^'n- that any breach of the laws is com- ' 
tended for exportation, milted ; or, (in the case of arms and 

ammunition) that there was eni intent to 
export^ they may make seizures, 

4. " Ministerial of- ^. " Ministerial officers, without pro- 
ficers, without process, cess, may seize^goods apparently oa 
may detain goods ap- their way to be imported by land ; and 
parently on their way vessels apparently on their way towards 
to be exported, till se- a French pert, may be seized by miii- 
curity is given, that tary officers. 

they shall not be ex- 
ported. 

5. " The power of 5. " The seizure is extended to 
seizure is confmed to goods, &:c. found on board of vessels, 
goods, &:c. found on or apparently on their way to be im- 
board of vessels, or ported by land, and to vessels on the 
9i\s]idiveni\Y ontheirway high seas. There is no power given 
to be exported. There to a municipal officer to enter hoiises^ 
is no power given to without process.*' 

any ministerial offixer 
to enter any house 
\Yithout process." 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



145 



Commodore Truxion's Third Resolution. 

Resolved, That the tenth section is contrary to the spirit of the constituticn, 
inasmuch as it vests in the president a legislatiTc authority by giving to his in- 
structions, in certain cases, the force of law.*' 



» ENFORCING LAW.» 

* The powers given to the 
coUcctors, either by this or 
any other act, respecting 
the embargo, to refuse per- 
mission to put any cargo on 
board any vessel, boat, or 
other water craft; to de- 
tain any vessel, or to take 
into their custody any arti- 
cles for the purpose of pre- 
venting violations of the 
embargo, shall be exercised 
in cmformity tvith such in- 
dructions as the president 
may give^ and such general 
rules as he may prescribe 
far that purpose, made i!i 

PURSUANCE OF THE POWERS 

AFORESAID ; which instruc- 
tions and general rules, the 
collectors shall be bound 
to obey.' — Iden), sect. 10. 



PRECEDENTS, &c. 

Under Wasldngton and J dams. 

* That the President of the United States be, 
and he hereby is authorised and empowered, 
rt-henever in his opini-yn Vie public safety shall so. 
require, TO LAY EINiBARGO on all ships 
and vessels in the ports of the United States, or 
the ships and vessels cf any foreign nation, under 
such regulation* as the circumstances of the case 
may require, and to continue or revoke the same, 
whenever he shall think proper. And the pres- 
ident IS HEREBY FtLLY AUTHORISED TO GIVE ALL 
SUCH ORDERS TO THE OFFICERS OF THE U. STATES 
AS MAY BE NECESSARY TO CARR/ THE SAME I^JTO 

FULL EFFECT.' — Scc act cf 4th June, 1791, sec- 
tion 1. 

* That an embargo be laid on all ships and ves- 
sels in the poi t- of the United States, whether al- 
ready cleared out or not, bound to any foreigB 
port or place, except ships or vessels under the 
immediate direction:3 of the president of the U. . 
States. And THAT the president of the uni- 
ted STATES BE- AUTHORISED TO GIVE SUCH IN-' 
STRUCTIONS TO THE REVENUE OFFICERS OF THE U, 
STATES, AS SHALL APPEAR BEST ADAPTED FOR 
CARRYING THE SAID RESOLUTION INTO FULL EF- 
FECT. '—ReSOlvC of the 26th March, 1792. 

*■ That tlie president of the United States be, and: 
*'h€ is hereby authorised, to direct the revenue offi- 

* cers, end the officers, commanding forts and revt- 

* nwe cutters, to aid in the execution of the health 
*• laivs of the states, respectively, in such manner as 
^ may appear to him necessary."* — Act of 27th May 
' 1796. 

' That it shall be lawful for the prrcsident of the 

* United States, if he shalFdeem it expedient and 

* consistent witli the interest of the United States^ 

* by his order, to remit and discontinue, for the time 

* being, the restraints and prohibitions aforesaid, ei- 
' ther with respect to the ^French Republic, or to 

* any island, &;c. with which a commercial intsr- 
' course may be safely renewed ; and also to revoK* 
^such orders, whenever, in hi$ opinion^ the interer-t 

* of the United States shall go require.'— -Act of 9lh 
February, 1799, sect. 4. 

* That it shall be lawful for the president of the 

* United States at any time during the continuance 

* of this act, to order all such aliens, as hi, shall 
*'jWge dangerous to the peace and safety of the 

* United States, or shall have reasonable ground to 
^ suspect, as concerned in any treasonable or secret 
' machinations against the government thereof, to 
*■ depart out of tlie territories of the United States 

* within such times as shall be expressed in £«ch 

* ordfer.' Actof Juae25, 179S, sect. 1, 



• THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



* And all marshals and other oJjcm of theUblted 

* States, are required to execute all precepts and 
orders of the president of the ^U. States, ifgucd io 

* pursuance or bv virtue of this act.' idem, sect. 4. 

REMARKS 

On the Precedents. 

1. "The pixsident is empowered 
nr^TO LAY, AND TO REVOKE 
EMBARGOES. His discretion in es- 
tablishiiig regulations, is only limited 
" lo Buch as tlie circiintslances of the case 
may re/juire Avhile his or(hrs might 
be directed to, and must be obeyed by, 
all officers of the United States civil and 
militarily he being constituted the aole 
judge of what orders were necessary, to 
carry an embargo into effect ! 

2. " The president's instructions to 
military and civil officers, are also abso- 
lute, w ithout any limitation by law, or 
any use of civil process^ to aid in execu- 
tion of ^tate Health Laws ; to enforce 
the non-intercourse Laws against France ] 
and to expel aliens from the country." 

Cmmnodorc Truxtons fourth Resolution, 

** Resotved-^ That the eleventh section of the act violates a political and civil 
right, more sacred than any constitution, in authorising the military to fire upon 
" the people, without the sanction or interposition of the civil autiiority, The 
" principle contained in this section, if much further extended, might, with com- 
petent force, convert our government into an an absolute despotism." 



On ' the enforcing law. 

1. " There is no le- 
gislative power given 
to the president. The 
constitution declares 
that he shcdl see the 
laws faithfully execu- 
ted. His instructions 
are to be given in or- 
der to execute the law, 
not to incJce it; and 
the instructions must 
be in pursuance of the 
/^iwer^expressly grant- 
ed to the collectors by 
the law.'* 



* ENFORCING LAW/ 

' It shall be lawful for the 
' president of the United 

* States, or mck other person 
^as he shall have empcivered 
*/or iliai purpose^ to employ 

* such part of the land or 

* naval forces, or militia of 

* the United States, or of the 
•^territories thereof, as may 

be jtidged necessary J incon- 

* formity with the provisions 
' of this and other acts re- 
' specting the embargo, for 
' the purpose of prever.ting 
^ the illegal departure of any 
' ship or vessel, or of detain- 
^ing^ taking pesst-ssion of, 

* and kieping in custody md 



PRECEDENTS, . 
Under IVashinglcn and Adams. 
*^ In every case arising under this act, it shall be 

* lawful for the President of the United States, or 
' such other person as he shall have empon ered for 
' ihoi purpose^ to employ sucti part of -the land or 

* naval forces of the United States, or of the mili- 

* tia tliereof, as shall be judged necessary, for the 

* purpose of taking possession of and detaining 

* any such ship or vessel, with her prize, or prizes, 
' if any, in order tc the execution of the penalties 
' of tliis act, and to the restoring of such prize or 
' prizes, in the cases in wliich restoration shall have 

* been adjudjied ; and also, for the purpose of pre- 

* venting the carrying on of any such expedition or 

* enterprise from the territories of the United 

* States, against the territories or dominions of a 
' foreign prince or state, with whom the United 
' States are at peace,' — Act of the 5tb cJf Jwjic, 
1794, se<>t. T. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



147 



* That whenever the laws of the United States 

* shall be opposed, or the execution thereof ob- 

* structid in any state» by combiuaiions too po;ver- 

* fill to be suppressed by the ordinary course of ji>- 
' dicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in tiie 
' marshal by this act, [the same powers in exec jt- 
' ing the laws of the Unitc}d States as sheritf? pos- 
' sess for executing the state laws] it shall be iaw- 
' ful for the President of the United States to call 

* forth the luilitia of such state or of any otiier state 

* or statesi/ as may be necessary, to suppress such 

* combinations, ond to cause the laws to be duly ex- 

* ecuted,' &c.— Act of the 'J Jth May, 1792. 

* Provided, that whenever it may be necessary in 

* the judg-ment of the president, to use the military 

* force hereby -.'irected to be called forth, the presi- 

* dent shall, forthwith, by proclamation, command 
' such insurgents to disperse, and retire peaceably 
' to their respective abodes, within a limited time.' 
— ibid, sect. 3. 

REMARKS 

On ' Tlie Enforcing Law.'* On Ihe Preccdefits. 

1. " In the 'Enforcing Larv,'^ 1. "In the act of the 5th of 
there is an authority given to June^ 1794, the same provision 
f»ail out such part of the milita- is made for calling out the raili- 
ry, as is judged necessary to tary to aid in the execution of 
execute the law. But it is not the law without any reference 
true, that the military are au- to the sanction, or interposition, 
thorised expressly, or by rea- of the civil authority, 
souable implication, to fire upon 

the people^ without the sanction * 
or interposition of the civil au- 
thority. No such language or 
meaning can be traced in the 
law. 

2. " The terms of the * En- 2, " During the respective 
forcing Law'' authorising a call administrations Washington 
upon the military, are evident- and A dams ^ the military were 
ly predicated upon the ascer- ofcen called out without the ex- 
tained incompetency of the ci- press sanction or interposition 
vil power to execute the law^ ; of the civil authority, to aid in 
for the call must be judged ne- the execution of the laws. The 
cessary to effect the specific instances will occur to every 
purposes of the law : but if the man, who remembers tbescenes 
custom-house officers can exe- of 1793 and 1798» 

cute the law, with the aid of the 
civil process, it never could be 
judged necessary to call out the 
fliilitary. 



* guarding any specie or ar- 

* tide of domestic growth, 

* produce, or manufacture ; 

* and also, for the purpose of 
' preventing and s^(ppressing 
' any armed or riotous assem- 
' blcge of pei'sons resisting 
' the Custom House Officers 
' in the exercise of their du- 

* ties, or in any manner op- 

* posing ihe execution of tiie 
' laws laying an embargo, or 
' otherwise violating and as- 
' silting and abetting viola- 
' Hons of the same.' — Idem, 
Section 1 1, 



143 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



3. "The 'E)2forcing Law' 3. " The act of the 28th of 
does not require a proclama- February, 1 795, requires a pro- 
tion." clamation; but it is by way of 

admonition to the people ; and 
neither suspends the call, nor 
the employment, of the milita- 
ry. Such was the construct- 
. ion of President Washington^ 
under the previous law, of a sim- 
ilar import, passed in 1792,"* 

To the candor of the reader I freely appeal. Let him ^•.are- 
luUy compare those various sections together. Let him more 
particularly observe, that by the act of June 4, 1794, congress 
actually vested the president with iT/^the poiver cf LAYING 
A N E M B A R G O , * ' whenever^ in h is cpin ion , the public safety 
should require it which was, so far as respects this important 
branch of legislation, HT^a/i actual surrender of the legisJntive 
power into the hands of the executive magistrate — and that they 
likewise conferred on him authority " to give such orders as 
might he necessary to carry into effect^'' the law which he had, of his 
own mere motion the " legislative power'''^ to enax^t, — When he hag 
duly pondered on these circumstances — when he has fully as- 
certained that Mr. Jefferson's embargo act in no instance ex- 
ceeded, and in many fell far short of, the rigor of former laws — 
will he not be lost in amazement, how it was possible so to ex- 
qite the public passions, respecting this necessary measure, as 
to actually endanger the permanence of the union ? for it is an 
indubitable fact that insurrection and rebellion were threatened 
— and it has been repeatedly asserted, and confidently believed 
that the tenth congress, through apprehension of that issue alone, 
repealed the embargo act. 

I ought not to omit, that the legislature of Massachusetts act- 
ually passed an act making the enforcement of some of the pro- 
visions of the embargo law criminal, and attaching to it certain 
penalties. It is out of my power to procure the act, or to state 
its details. But of its existence there is not the shadow of a 
doubt 

* The whole of this comparison of, as well as the remarlrs upon, f iip«eacts, are 
taken from a ^3amphlet, published in Philadelphia, in 1809, rmd entitled " The 
Comtiiutionality of the Embargo Laws established by PreGedeat*'— ai liiminoug 
aotl unanswerable ari essay as ever pubiisked. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



14§ 



CHAPTER XXVL 

Patriotic Proceedings,'^ 

t ANNEX a few specimens of the stj^le and substance of the 
iTsolutions and legislative remarks upon the emijargo — in order 
to satisfy the reader that I have not exaggerated the deplorable 
and disgraceful phrenzy of the public mind. 

Extract from the resolutions of the tonm of Gloucester, January MUi, 1809. 

'■^ Resolved^ That we will mutually watch and protect what little property wft 
have ?till left — that we will use all lawful means ' to arrest disturbers and break* 
ers of the peace or such others as roay, {under pretence of authority from govern-- 
./lent) go armed by night,' or utter any menaces, or threatening speeches, to the 
I'ear and terror of the good people of this town ; and that we will ever liold in ab- 
horrenc? pimps, and spies, and night-walkers, who strive to fatten on the spoils of 
their suffering fellow-citizens. 

Resolved, That to onr state government wc look for council, protection and 
relief at this anful period of general calamity.'*'* 

Extract from the resolutions of the tonn qf Bath, December 27, 1808. 

" Resolved, that we have hitherto Trorne with silence the severe pressure of 
these ruinous laws [embargo laws] — and although we now deem it our duty to speak 
>nth firmness and decision onr detestation of them, and the policy which gave rise to 
Ihem, we will still keep down the spirit of indignation which swells within us at 
the endurance of them ; and will conduct toward the national government and its 
several officers with suitable deference and moderation ; that we do, however, 
despjahof obtaining any redress of these grievances, from that government, while 
its piBicipal oliices are filled as at present j and that our only hope is that the 
state governments, by their remonstrances and resolutions, may have more influ- 
4;nce in effecting this object, than the petitions and memorials of individuals and 
towns. 

" Resolved, therefore, That a respectful address be forwarded in tlie name of 
\he people of this town to the legislature of this coiBmonwealth ; stating to them 
ihe wrongs and grievances we already suffer, and the fearful apprehecpions we ex- 
perience of speedily having our calamity increased by the addition of f till more 
re:*trictive and arbitrary laws ; expressing to them our approbation of tlie meas- 
11] es they have already adopted upon this important subject, and requesting them 
to take such other immediate steps for relieving the people, either by themselves 
a'one, or in concert with other commercial states, as the extraordinary circumstancts 
Tf our sitmition may require.'*'' 

Extract from the memorial of the ioivn of Boston to the legislature of Mass* 

achuseits, January ^5ih, tW9, 
** The inhabitants of the town of Boston, in town meeting assembled, respect- 
fully represent — That tliey are constrained to apply to your honorable body, S8 
ti)e immediate guardians of their rights and liberties, for your interposition to pro- 
cure for them reliffhom the grievances which they now suffer, under the opei ac- 
tion of the laws of the general government, abolishing foreign commerce, and sub- 

* The factious, ard seditious, and jaccbinical proceedings that took place in the 
ea tern states in the year IHC;^, and shook the government to its centre, were pa'^ 
ra ded In many of the federa' paper? throujrhout the union with great solemnity, 
teaded vrith the words PATBiOTlC FROCESDINGS, " in staring capitals, 
it is tiuly lamentable to reflect on the extravi^gRrst lengths* to which, the «:pirit of 
party lead* its follower;^. Never was the word %atrio*ic?'' more grossly misap- 
plied. 

o 



130 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



jecling the coasting trade to embarrassments which thi eaten its annihilatloQ - - 
Our hope and consolation rest with the legislature of our state to n'kom it is compe- 
tent to devise means 0/ relief against the unconstitutional meaLures of the general 
government : that your power is adequate to this object is evideDt/rom the organ- 
ization of the confederacy.'*'* 

Extract from the proceedings of the town pfTopsfeld, January 15 th, 1809. 

" Resoived^ That such has been our suffering, and so great is our alarm, occa- 
sioned by the extraordinary measures lately adopted, that ^e shall never be co/i- 
tented until we are secured from a repetition of the same evils. That a bare 
repeal of the obnoxious acts ought not, therefore, to satisfy a free and piudent 
|»eople, any more than the repeal of the British stamp act silenced the patriots of 
that day — that there ought to be a solemn renunciation of the right thus assum- 
ed ; and it is the opinion of this assembly, that legal and constitutional measures 
ihould be adopted for that purpose. 

This assembly declare it as their deliberate opinion that there exists NO 
CWUSE of war with Great Britain ; that such a war wonid be unjust, unnecessa- 
ry, and extremely to be deplored ; that the removal of the embargo will not ne- 
cessarily involve us in war ; but should this be the alternative, it ought to be a 
war with France, and not with Great Britain. 

" Inhabiting a part of the union tlie most engaged in foreign commerce, they 
think themselves qualified to decide upon its risks, and the nature and extent of 
the injuries to which it is exposed ; and it is their firm belief that our commerce, 
unrestrained by self-dcFtroying measures, might find many sources of profitable 
employment, nithout interfering in any degree nith those principles of maritime 
hin\ which GRE \T BRITAIN deems essential to her existence^ and which in an 
(lertfful moment like the piesent she nill NEVER YIELD. 

And this assembly cannot refrain from expressing their conviction, that nei- 
ther the lionor nor the permanent interests of the United States require that we 
fSiould drive Great Britain, if it were in our power, to the surrender of those 
claims so essential to her in i}ie mighty conflict in rvhich she is at pi esent engaged ; 
e conflict interesting to humanity^ fc morals, to religion, and the last stmmigU ff 
liberiy.'^'' " 

Hiirad from a Circular Handbill, published at Newburyporl, 

You have reposed confidence in a COWARD, [Jefferson,] and leaned on a 
broken staff too long. — The day of political probation is fast verging to a close — 
'A ben the fate of America will be decided, and laurels bought with the price of 
f reemen's blood will grace the brows of the Gallic tyrant. Let every man who 
holds the name of America dear to him, stretch out his hand, and put this acrurs- 
c?d thing the EMBARGO, from him. [J^Be resolute : act like the sons of liber- 
ty, of GOD and of your country — nerve your arms with VENGEANCE against 
the DESPOT who would wrest the inestimable germ of your independence from 
you — and you shall he conquerors ! 

Give ear no longer to the syren voice of democracy and Jeffersonian liberty* 
it is a cursed delusion, -adopted by^ traitors, and recommended by sycophants. 

" Jefferson — a man, who with the DAGGER o^ popular cmfidence first gave tfee 
stab to your liberties.'* — 

Extract from the proceedings of the town of Augusta in 3Taine, Jan, 16, 

1809. 

The awful crisis has arrived, when it becomes necessary for the friends of 
•our independence, to make a firm and decided stand— when it becomes all import- 
ant to throw aside minor considerations, and unite for the common good j and 
when a sense of common danger draws ui together to meet the approaching 
-storm. 

" With submission almost amounting to criminal apathy, we have sufiTered pri- 
vations and restrictions never before expected of or endured by, a free people. — 
JVovf , that even the means of subsistence is at hazard, and the sacred asylum of 
our dwellings, is no lonjrer held inviolable — silence would be crimc^ and resistanc4 
^uld become a virtue ^ the first mi'^^iitnide' ! ! ! 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



151 



Kfesolveci, that the restrictions and impositions on our trade and commcrcn^ 
ire too great and ruinous any longer to be borne — and that the general distress oV 
our country demands immediate relief." 

Every man will presume that he is Rot bound to regard it [the Embargo] but 
»5ky send bis produce or his? merchandize to a foreign marKCt in the same mauner, 
as if the government had never undertaken to prohibit it." 

Boslon Ceniinel. 

* * We know if the embargo be not removed, our citizens Tviil ere long set its pen- 
alties and restrictions at defiance. It behoves us to speak ; for strike rve 7nuti^ if 
speaking does not answer." Boston Repertory, 

" It is better to suffer the AMPUTATION of a Limb, than to lose the 

WHOLES BODY. We must prepare /-w the operation^ Wherefore then is 

jVx??' Enyland asleep— wherefore does she SUBMIT to the oppression of enemies 

ill the South ? Have we no Moses, who is inspired by the God of our Fathers 

arid 7i)iU lead us^ out o/Egi/pt Boston Gazette. 

This perpetual embargo being unconstitutional, every man will perceive that 
Iio is not bound to regard it, but may send his produce or merchandise to a for- 
eign market in the same manner as if the government had never undertaken to 
prohibit it ! — If the petiiions do not produce a relaxation or removal of the em- 
bargo, ike people ought immediately to assume a higher tone. 

The government of Massachusetts has also a duty to perform. This state is 
fitill sovereign and independent." Boston Ceniinel, September \Oih, 1303. 

Extract from the spach of Mr, Millhouse, in the senate of the United Siaie?, 
on tke bill for enforcing the embargo. 

In my mind the present crisis excites the most serious apprehensions. A 
storm seems to be gathering which portends not a tempest on the ocean^ but domes- 
tic convulsions ! — However painful the ta??:, a sense of duty calls upon me to 
raise niy voice, and use my utmost exertions to prevent the passing of thii^biil. — 
I feel myself bound in conscience to declare, [^^leet the blood of those who 
should fall in the execution of this measure may lie on ray head, that I consider 
this to be an act which directs a mortal blow at the liberties of my country : an 
act containing unconstitutional provisions, to which THE PEOPLE ARE NOT 
BOUND TO SUBMIT, and to which, in my opinion, fO^they will not sub- 
rat."*f 

This speech requires a most serious reflection. A senator 
of the United States — whose age ought to have secured him 
from the heyday of passion and violence, and taught him so- 
briety and gravity, in bis place invites and encourages his fel- 
low citizens to insurrection and rebellion ! And the law to 
which he excites resistance is not so rigorous, as laws' which, 
I believe, he had concurred to frame : for I am pursuaded he 
was in congress when thoie laws to which I have referred, were 
passed. 

A large volume might be filled with similar " patriotic pro- 
ceedings,'' as they were then styled, which threatened the peace 
of the nation with destruction. No pains had been spared ta^ 
fan the flame. The public mind, by incessant appeals to the 

* For the preceding extract? I am indebted to a pamphlet, styled " Tbingjs 
Xbey are," by H. Niles. 

r Bostoa Centine!, Jaa. 12, laOSJ 




152 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



passions, bad been excited to a species of delirium ami mad- 
ness. And sucb \vas tbe awful and disgraceful delusion, that 
the sufferings of the country by the lawless proceedings of the 
belligerents, were unjustly ascribed to the measures of the gov- 
ernment, calculated to enfoixe red»'e&&l Greater insanity can 
kardiy be conceived. 



CHAPTER XXVn. 

■Jolin lhnnj's Mission to the Eastern Slates. Instmdions from 
the Governor General of British Anurica.^ 

CoTEMPORANEousLY wlth the patriotic prcccedin^s^''^ of 
which i have presented the reader with a slight sketch in the 
preceeillng chapter, a most extraordinary circumstance occur- 
red in Canada. Sir James H. Craig, governor general of the 
Brltlsrf piovlr.cesin North America, employed a certain John 
kleary on a mission to the Eastern States, to ascertain the 
v'r^wo cf the malcontents, and how far, if they obtained ''ade- 
i'idjd hfuiencc^'' tliey w ould " exert that i?ifluen<:e to bring ahoid 
a scpcira'don from the general imion,'^'^ Also " how far ^ in such 
an events they ruoidd look to England for assi^tajice, or be disposed 
to enter into a connexion with ns^'' [tbe people of Canada.] 

This is a most important feature in the history of our era. — 
i shall therefore, give the whole of the correspondence betv/eea 
Sir James and Mr. Henry, in exlenso, without comment. Let 
the reader decide for liimself as to the nature of the transaction- 
No. I. 

Mr. Rylaiid, secretary to sir James Craig, lale governor-general of ike Brh 
tlsh provinces in Norih America, to Mr, Henri/, 

[Most secret and confidential.] 

Ciuelei, l^thJanuarVy 1809. 

My dear sir — extraordinary situation of thirds at this time in the neigb- 
boring state?, has si^irested to the governor in chief, the idea of employing yon 
on a secret-and confidential mission to Boston, provided an arrangement can be 
made to meet the important end in view, without throwing an abiolute obstacle 
, in tiie wa}' of your professional pursuits. The information and political ohstrva' 
Horn- her d'^ fore received from you were transmitted by his excellency to the secre- 
tary (instate, who has expressed his particular approbation of them ; and there ia 
no dou'bt that your able execution of such a mission as 1 have above suggested, 
would give you a claim not only on the governor-general, but on his majesty's 
ministers, which might eventually contribute to your advantage. You will have 
the goodness, therefore, to acquaint me, for his excellency's information, wheth- 
er yon could make it convenient to engage in a mission of this nature, and wjiat 
pecuniary assistance would be requisite to enable you to undertake it without ia- 
jury to yourself* 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



It present it is only necessary for me to add, that the governor would furn'sh 
vou with a cypher for carrying on your corr^-spondence ; and that m caL.e the 
leading parly in an> of the states wished to open a cominuiiication with tins gov- 
ernmr-Dt. ti.eir vie«rs might be coramu:)icaled tn rough you. 

l am. with great truth and regard, my dear sir, your most faithful, humb.e 

servant, ^^^^^^^ HERMAN W. RYLANB. 

John Henry, Esq, 

ISo. II. 

MmUreal, January 31, 1809. 
1 have to acknowledge the favor of your letter of tue 26th inst. written by the 
desire of lii?^ excelkncy the gov In chief; and hasten: to express, throu2h you, to 
excellency, mv readitie&s to comply with his wishes. 

1 m ed not .dd how veiy fiatteiiag it is to receive from - his excellency tlie as- 
surance of the approbation of his majesty's secretary of state for the very humble 
services that 1 m-^y have rendered. ^ 

If the n \tur" of the services in which I am to be engaged will require no other 
disburrements tlian for my individual expences, 1 do not apprehend that these 
♦fin exceed mv nrivate resources. 

I siiall i^e ready to take my departure before my instructioDi^ can be made out. 
I hr ve the honor to be, &'c. J. H*y. 

11. W.Byland, Esq. Stc. Lc: 

No. III. 

General Instrueiionsf rem sir J. B. Craig io Mr. Henry, respect in g his 

secret mission. 
[Most secret and confidential. ] 

Quebec, 6!h February, 1809. 
Sir — As you have so readily undertaken the service which 1 have sugee^ted t3 




to 

obtain the most accurate information of the true state of affairs in thai p-^r^ oithfj 
onion, w!iich, from its wealth, the number of its inhabitants, and the known in ■ 
telligence and ability of several of its leading; men. must naturally possess a very 
considerable influence over, and will indet d probably lead, tlie other eastciin 
states o*" America in the part they may take at this important cri^^is- 

I shall not p.retend to point out to you the mode by whic'» you will be most 
likely to obtain this important information Your own judgement, , and the con- 
nections which you may have in the town, must be your guide 

rthink it however necessary to put you on your guard against tlie sang'jiae- 
ness of an aspiring party. The federa'ists. as I understand, have at a!3 times 
discovered a leaning to this disposition : nd their beins: under its partico' -r in- 
fluence at this iwomeitt, is the more to be expected fronri their having no i'l fou deil 
ground for their Ixopes of being nearer the attaiiiineat of their object than they 
have been for some years past. 

In the general terms which i liave made u^e of in describing the ohjc>ct which f 
recommend to your attention ; it is carcely necessary that I shou!d observe, { 
include 
tics 

the ^ ^ 
f that whic J niriy ultimately rtrevail. 
It has been .<<upposed that if the federalists of the eastern states shouM be sue- 



^ ^ , , ... ^quence to our government i ^< it may 

also be, that it should be iniorm^d how Tir in such an event they would look iff 
EftglaMfor assistance, or be disposed to enter into a coDnection witU \ssi.- 

z 



154 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Although it would be highly inexpedient that you should in any manner appfeaf 
as an avowed agent ; yet if you could contrive to obtain an intimacy with any of 
ttie leading party, it may not be improper that you should insinuate, thougii with- 
great caution, that if they should wish to enter into any communication with our 
government through me, you are authorised to receive any such, and will safely 
transmit it to me : and as it may not be impossible that they should require some 
document by which they may be assured, that you are really in the situation in 
which you represent yonrself, I enclose a credential to be produced in that view. 
But I most particularly enjoin and direct, that you do not make use of this pa- 
per, unless a-desire to that purpose should.be expressed'; and unless you see 
good ground for expecting that the doing so may lead to a more confidential cons • 
icunication, than you can otherwise look for. 

In passing through the state of Vermont, you will of course exert your en- 
deavors to procure all the information that the short stay you will probably 
ihalce there will admit of. You will use your own discretion as to delaying your 
journey, with this view, more or less, in proportion to your prospects of obtain-- 
iag any information of consequence. 

i request to hear from you as frequently as possible : and as letters addressed^ 
to me might exdte suspicion, it may be as well that you put them under cover to 

Mr. —• And aseven the addressing^ letter^ always to the same person 

might attract notice, I recommend your sometimes addressing your packet to the 
^hlef justice here, or occasionally, though seldom, to Mr. Ryland ^ but never— 
with tiie addition of hia oiHdal description. 

i am, sir, your most obedient humble serv^t, 

(Signed) j; H. CRAIG. 

John Henry ^ Esq, . 

No. IVo 

Credeniialfrom Sir James Craig, io Mr. Henri/, 

(Copy.)" [seal.] 
The bearer Mr John Henry, is employed by me, and full confidence may he^ 
placed in him for any communicaticn wnich any person may wish to make to Rie 
In the bu ioess coinmitted to him. in faith of which I have given him tMs under- 
Jiiy hand and seal at Quebec, the^th day of February, 1809. 

(Signed) J. H. CRAIG. 

PTo. V. 

his excelhmt/ ih^ Governor General^ Szo, in answer io his leiter of in»- 

siruciions, 

Montreal, Feb.. iOi U09: 
Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency's letter ' 
®f instructions, the letter of credence, and the cypher for carrying on my corres- 
pondence. I liaEve bestowed much pains npon the cypher ; and am, notwithstand- 
ing this, deficient in some points which might enable me to understand it clearly, . 
I have compared the example with my own exempli S cation of the cypher, and 
Ihid a difference in the results : and as the present aioment seems favoF-abie to the 
interference of his majesty's government in the measures pursued by the federal 
party in the northern states, and more especially as the assemijiy of Massachu- 
setts is now in session, I think it better to set forward immediately, than wait for 
any further explanation of the means of carrying on a secret correspondence; which 
the frequency of safe private conveyances to Canada will render almost Avliolly un- 
necessary. Should it however be necessary at any time, I take levive to suggest, 
that the index alone furnishes a very safe and simple mode. In it there is a num- 
ber fpy- every letter in the alphabet, and particular numbers for particular phrases j, 
»o<that wbcR I do not find in the index the particular word 1 want, I can spell it 
witbvtlie figures which stand opposite to the letters. For ex^imple, if I want to 
say that'** troops are at Albany.'^ I find under the letter *' T'* that number 1^ 
fitanddfor "troops,'* and number 12^> for ** Albany." The intervening words* 
•*aie at'' I supply by hgyires corresponding with tiie letters in these words* 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 13# 

Ft will be necessary to provide against accident by addressing the letters ta- 

J^Ir. , of Montreal, witli a small mark on the corner of the envelope 

wiiich he will understand . When he receives it, he will then address the enclo- 
sure to your excellency, and send it from Montreal by mail. I will be careful 
not to address your excellency in tha body of the letter^ nor sign my name to 
any of th«^m. — They will be merely designated by the initials A. B. 

If this mode should in any respect appear exceptionable^ your excellency will 
Bave the goodness to order a more p?.rticular explacatioar of the card. It \vould- 
reach me in safety addressed to , Boston. 

1 have the honor to be, &,c. J. H'y» 

m. vi. 

Burlington, Vermont, Feb. 14, i 809. 

Sir — 1 have remained here two dcys in order fully to ascertain the progress of ' 
the arrangements heretofore made for organising an efficient opposition to the 
general governmeni^^^^ to become acquainted with the opinions of the- 

leading people, relative to the measures of that party which has the ascendency 
in the national councils. 

On the subject of the embargo laws there seems but one opinion ; namely, 
that they are unnecessary, oppressive, and uEeonstitutional, It must also be ob- 
«erved that thi? execution of them is so invidious as to attract towards the officerg 
of government the enmity of the people, which h of course transferable to the" 
government itself ;: so that in case the state of Miassachusetfs should take aoy- 
hold step towards resisting the execi tion of these laws, it is highly probable that 
it may calculate upon the hearty co-operation of the people of Vermont. - 

I learn that the governor of this state is now visiting the towns in the northern 
section of it; and rj^y=» makes no secret of hia determination, as commander in 
chief of the militia, to refuse obedience to any command from the general gov- 
ernment which can tend to interrupt the good understanding that prevails be- 
tween the citizens of Vermont and his mrxjesty's subjects in Canada It is 
further intimated, that, in case of a war, he will use his influence to preserve the 
itate neutral; and resist, with all the force he can conamand, any attempt to- 
make it a party. I need not add, that if these resolutions are carried into effect, 
?|;^the state of Vermont may be considered as an ally of Great Britain. 

To what extent the sentiments whicii prevail in this quarter exist in the neigh- 
boring states, or even in. the eastern section of this state, I am not able to conjec- 
ture.. I can only say, with certainty, that the leading men of the federal party 
act in concert; and, therefore, infer, that a common sentiment pervades the- 
whole body throughout Nevf-England. 

I have seen a letter frono a gentlenren now at Washington to his friend in this 

flace ; and as its contents may serve to throw some light on passing events there, 
shall send either the original or a copy with this despatch. The writer of the 
letter is a man of character and veracity ; and whether competent or not to form 
correct oi)inions himself, is probably within the reach of ail the knowledge that - 
©an be obtained by the psrty to which he belongs. It appears by his statement 
that there is a very formidable majority in congress on the side of the administra- 
tion ; notwithstanding which, there is every reason to hope, that the north- 
ern states in their djitinct'c:vpacity will unite and resist by force'' a war with 
Great Britain. In what mode this resistance will first show itself, is probab'y not 
yet determined cpon; and may in some measure depend upon the reliance that 
the leading men may place upon assurances of support from his majesty's repre- 
sentatives in Canada ; and as I slial! be on the spot- to tender tjih whenever the^ 
moment arrives that it can ba done with effect — there is no doubt that all 
their raeasnreg may be made subordinate to the intentions of his majest*'- gov- 
ernment. c£!G.^ Great pains are taken by the men of talents and intelligence ta 
confirm the fears of the common people, as to the concurrence of the south- 
er ii democrats in the projects of France; and every thing tends to encourage the 
bi'lief, that the disso'lution of the coxFEDEiiACY will be accelerated by that- 
^ixit which now actuates both political parties,- 



r^5 THE OLIVE BRANCIf. 

No. VH. 

Windsor, Vermont, Feb. 10, 1809. 

Sis — My last was Tfritten at BurjingtoD, tiie pi'incipai town iu the northero 
part of the state of Vermont. I am now at the principal lovvu in the eastern 
aeclion. 

The fallacy of men's opinion? when tlif y act under tae influence of sensibility, 
i^nd are stronsly excited by tho-e hopes which always animate a rij^ing party, 
^ead me to doubt the correctness of tlie opinions which 1 received in tiie northern 
section of this s*tat<^ . which, fi'om its contiguity to Canada, and necessary inter- 
course with iMontreal, has a strong iutei est in promoting a good und'ei'.standin^ 
■'.Tith his majesty'.-^ government,' Therefore, since my departure from /juriington, 
i havvr .^oug'it every avorable occasion of conversing with the democrats on the 
probable re.-uit of the policy adopted by the general government. The difference 
of opinio., '.s thus expi e^-cd 

Tiie federal party deci ire. tliat in the event of a war lie state oi Vern ont 

will treat separately for it^eli* with Grea! Britain ; and rvij>port, to the utmost, 
the stipulations into which it may enler. wit iOiit any regard to the policy of the 
general government. The democrats on the otiier hand assert, that, in such a 
case as that contemplated, the people would nearly be divided into equal numbers ; 
one of which would support the gov* rnmetit, if it couid be done without involving 
the people in a civil war : but at all ev^»nt? wou d risk everj thing in preference 
to a coalition with Great Eri'iair. — Tills difFerence of opinion is not to be wholly 
ascribed to the prejudices of party. The people in tlie sa^tcrQ section of Vermont 
are iiot operated upon by the same hopes and fears as those on the borders of the 
British colony. They are not dependant upon Montreal for the sale of their 
j>Fodiice, n-3r the supply of foreign commodilies. They are not apprehensive of 
any serioa? d in^rers or inconvenience from a state of A^^ar : and aitiiough they 
admit that the governor, council, and three-fourt!\s of the repregt^nlatlon in con- 
gress art of the federal party, yet they do not believe tiiat the state would «tand 
alone and resist the national government They do not ho-vever deny, that 
should the state of Vermopit continue to be represented as it is at present, it would 
in all probability unite with the neig-iboring states, in any seriou*:' plan of resistance 
to a war, whicn it might seem expedient to adopt, — This i tiiink i> the ^-afer 
opinion for you to rely on ; if indeed relitince ought to be placed on any measure 
depending 'ipan the will of the rabble, which is ever changing, and must ever be 
marked wilii ignorance, caprice, and inconstancy. As the crises approaches, the 
diSicuUy of deciding upon an hazardous aUernative will increase \nd utifortu- 
natelr there i*- not in Vermont a!^y man of commanding tarlents, capab-e ofaliract- 
ing general cmfidence ; of inTusing ijito the peop'e bis own spirit ; and. amidst the 
confusion of cojifliclins: opinions, dangers and coiiiaiotian, competent to lead in the 
path of duiy or safety, Tlie governor is an industrious, prudent man. and hai 
morr- personal influence than any other. But his abilities are not suited to the 
situation iu wiiich a civil war wouki place him I am, 4:c. A. B. 

No. VV\. 

Ahthersi^ JVew Hampshire, Fe6. ^3, 1809. 

Sir — A gentleman going direct to Canada, afforas a gdi'eand fivorable opportu- 
Fity of giving you some further account of my progress 1 will not m ike u.e of 
the post-offic;^?, when I can avoid i^; because prrvate occ^-ions supercede the 
necessity of writinor in cypher. And the cont<'mpt ofdecc icy and princip:.^ which 
forms part of the morals of the subaltern officer^ of a democracy, would incline 
them to break ? seal with the .^irae indifference, that they break their words, 
when »^ithpj' curiosi'^ or interest is tabe mdulged 

I h-ve not had .'-ufficient time nor evidence to en ibie mp ti form any opinhn 
Jbr mtfself. of the ieugtlis to w-iich the fed*^ri^ pir^y wi carry oppo-i^io i to the 
natioii 5» government in the even< of { wa*" Much rray be inrerred from " ')p r.^^ult 
of t'se cl c^. of\> Of j^overnors which within two mo-ith.- vill be m^-lj in the states 
of ?rlarsachu^etts New Hampshire, n^i Ei«ode Island. From a'l i knov \nd all 
fcau learn jf the general givernm.^iit, J am not appr liensive of an immediate 
war. The embargo i * the favorite measure. And it is probably that other means. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



15T 



^ ill be eniT>loTOi] to excite England to commit some act of hostility, for the sole 
purpose oj "placing the responsibility of war on that country. This I most par- 
ticularly recommend to the consideration of ministers. The dread of opposition, 
and the loss of popularity, will certainly keep the ruling party at "Washington 
inactive. — They will risk any thing but the loss of power ; and tbey are well aware 
that theirpower would pass away with the first calamity whichtheir measures might 
bring upon the common people (from whom that power emanates,) unless indeed 
the''/ could find a sufficient excuse in the conduct of Great Britain. Tliis impres- 
sion cannot be too deeply felt by his majesty's ministers ; nor too widely spread 
thrcjshont the British nation. It will furnish a sure guide in every policy that 
stay he adopted towards the United States. 1 have the honor to be, 6ic. 

A. B. 

^^o. IX. 

Boston, 7fTarck5, 1809. 

gjr. — I p^t>T fzvored with another opporl unity of writing to you by a private cob- 
v«\vance ; and tl]irik it probable, at this season, that the frequency of these wiU 
render it uimece^saiy to write to you in cypher. 

it does not yet appear necessary that 1 sliould discover to any person the pur- 
pose of ray vi?it to Boston ; nor is it probable that I shall be compelled, for the 
sake of gaining more knov.ledge of tlie an'angements cf the federal party in these 
?tates, to avow myself as a regular authorised agent of the British government, 
even to tiiose individual? wtio wuuM feci equally bound with myself to preserve 
with the utmost i;iscrutability so important a secret from tlie public eye. 

f>^^ I have hufficiect mean? of information to enable me to judge of the proper 
penud for offering the co-cperation of Great Britain, and opening a correspondence 
between the governor general of British America and those individuals, who, 
from the part they take in the opposition to the national government, or the 
influence they may possess in any new order of things, that may grow out of fne 
present differences, siiould be qualioed to act on behalf of the northern states c£Itt 
An apprehension of any such state of things, as is presupposed by these remarks, 
begins to subside ; since it has appeared, by the conduct of the general govera* 
raent, that it is seriously alarmed at lire menacing attitude of the northern states. 
But altliough it is believed that there is no probability of an immediate war, yet 
DO doubts are entertained, that Mr. Madison will fall upon some new expedient* 
to bring about hostilities. What these may be can only be deduced from what 
appears to be practicable. J ivm inUr course with England and France wilt 
probably supercede the enibargo ; which, by opening with the rest of Europe a 
partial le,2;itiraate commerce, and affording strong temptations to that which i? 
illegal, will expose tiie vessels to cnpbjre, detention and embarrassment ; will 
justify the present policy ; and produce such a degree of irritation and, resentment 
as will enable the government of this country to throw the whole blame and re- 
sponsibility cf war from its own slioulders upon those of the British ministry. If 
in this, the party attached to France should calculate with correctness, arid the 
commerce of New England v. ould greatly suffer — the merchants being injured and 
discouraged, would not only acquiciice in the restrictive systems, but even submife 
to war. On t-ic other hand, should the small traffic permitted by a non-intercourss 
law be lucrative and uninterrupted, the people would be clamorous for more, 
and soon compel the goverrraent to restore tlie friendly relations between the two 
countries. \Vhile 1 offer my opinion upon this subject, I cannot but express a 
ftrong hope thfit if any ternss should be proposed by either government, to wiiich 
the other might think proper to accede, th.it, A 'PRINCIPAL MOTIVE TO 
THE ADJUSTMENT OF DIFFERENCES SPIOULD BE UNDERSTOOD 
TO ARISE FROM THE AMICABLE DISPOSITION OF THE EAST- 
ERN STATES, PAP.TICULARLY OF THE STATE OF MASSACHI- 
SETTS. THIS, AS IT WOULD INCREASE THE POPULARITY OF 
THE FRIENDS OF GREAT BRITAI?*, COULD NOT FAIL TO PRO- 
MOTE PIER INTERESTS. If it could not be done formally and officially, 
nor in a corresi:iondence between ministers, still perhaps the administration in the 
parliament of Great Britain miglit take that ground : and the suggestion would; 
Sad itg way iato the papers both in England and America, 



15« 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



It cannot be too frequently repeated, that this country can only be goverae*/ 
and directed by the influence of opinion ; as there is nothing permanent in its po- 
Jitical institutions ; nor are the populace, under any circumstances, to be relied 
en, when measures become incoBvenient and' burdensome. I will soon write a- 
^ain, and am, ^c. A. B. 

No. X. 

Bosian, March 7, 1809. 

Sir — I liare now ascertained, with as much accuracy as possible, the course in- 
tended to be pursued by the measures and politics of the administraticn of the 
general government. 

I have already given a decided opinion that a declaration of war is not to i>e 
expected : but, contrary to all reasonable calculation, should the congress possess 
spirit and independence enough to place their popularity in jeopardy by so strong 
a measure, THE LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS WILL GIVE 
THE TONE TO THE NEIGHBORING STATES; WILL DECLARE IT- 
SELF PERMANENT UNTIL A NEW ELECTION OF MEMBERS j IN- 
VITE A CONGRESS, TO BE COMPOSED OF DELEG ATES FROM THE 
FEDERAL STATES, AND ERECT A SEPER ATE GOVERNMENT FOR 
THEIR COMMON DEFENCE AND COMMON INTEREST. 

This congress would probably begin by abrogating the offensive laws, and a- 
dopting a plan for the maintenance of the power and authority thus assumed. — 
They would by such an act be in a condition tf? make or receive proposals from 
Great Britain ; and I s hould seize the first moment to open a correspondence with 
your excellency. Scarce any other aid would be necessary, and perhaps none re- 
quired, than a few vessels of war from the Halifax station, to protect the mari- 
time towns from the little navy which is at the disposal of the national govern- 
ment. What permanent connexion betv^een Great Britain and this sectiori of the 
republic would grow out of a civil commotion, such as might be expected, no pep' 
son is prepared to describe. But it seems that a strict alliance must result of ne- 
cessity. At present the opposition party confine their calculations merely to re- 
sistance ; and I can assure you that at this moment they do not freely entertain 
the project of withdrawing the eastern states from the union, finding it a very 
unpopular topic ; although a course of events, such as I: have already mentioned, 
"would inevitably produce an incurable alienation of the New England from the 
southern states. The truth is, the cxjmmon people have so long regarded the 
constitution of the United States with complacency, that they are now only dis- 
posed in this quarter to treat it like a truant mistress, whom they would for a 
time put away on a seperate maintenance, but, without farther and greater prov- 
ocation, would not absolutely repudiate. 

It will soon be known in wbrt situation public affairs are to remain until the 
meeting of the new congress in May, at which time also this legislature will agaia 
assemble. The two months that intervene will be a perio^i^ of much anxiety. 

In all I have written, 1 have been careful not to make any impression analogoiM- 
to the entliusiastic confidence entertained by the oppo^tion, nor to the hopes and 
expectations that animate the friends of an alliance between the northern states 
and Great Britain. I have abstracted myself from all the sympathies these are 
calculated to inspire ; because, notwithstanding that I feel the utmost confidence 
in the integrity of intention of the leading characters in this political drama, I 
cannot forget that they derive their po'.yer fronj a giddy, inconstant multitude j 
who, unless in the instance under consideration they form an exception to all gerK 
eral rules and experience, will act inconsistently and absurdly. 

I am, &c. A. B: 

No. XL 

Boston^ March 10, 1809. 
Sir— '-In my letter No. 9, I took the liberty to express my opinion of the probfe- 
%\e eflfect of the non-intercourse law intended to be enacted j and of the mode 
by which Great Britain may defeat the real intention of the American govern- 
Hient in passing it. But as the sort of impunity recommended might, in its appli- 
cation id every specie* of coraiiaerce that would be carried on, be deemed, hf. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



150 



8 peat Biitaio a greater ^vil than war itself, a middle course might easily be adopt- 
ed, which would deprive France of the benefit resulting from an intercourse with 
America, witlsout, in any great degree, irritating the maritime states. 

The high price of all American produce in France furnishes a temptation which 
mercantile avarice will be unable to resist. The consequence is obvious. But if 
instead of condemning the vessels and cargoes which may be arrested in pursu- 
ing this prohibited commerce, they should be compelled to go into a British poit, 
and there permitted so sell them, I think the friends of England in these states, 
would not utter a complaint. Indeed, 1 have no doubt, that if in the prosecution 
of a lawful voyage, the British cruisers should treat American ships in this man- 
ner, their owners would in the present state of the European markets, think 
themselves very fortunate ; as it would save them the trouble and expe nse of 
landing them in a neutral port, and from thence re-ship them to England, now 
the best market in Em ope for the produce of this country. The government of 
the United States would probably complain, and Bonaparte become peremptory ; 
tut even that would only tend to render the opposition in the northern states 
more resolute, and ::ccelerate the dissolution of the confederacy. The generosity 
and justice of Great Britain would be extolled, and the commercial states exult in 
the success of individualr. over ^ government inimical to commerce, and to whose 
Measures they can no longer submit with patient acquiescence. 

The elections are hegm* ; und I presume no vigilance or industry will be re- 
mitted to insure the success of the federal party. 

I am, &c. A. B. 

P. S. Intelligence has reached Boston, that a non-intercourse law has actually 
passed, and that Martinique has surrendered to the British forces. 

No. XII. 

Boston, March 13, 1809. 

Sir — You will perceive from the accounts that will reach you in the public pa- 
pers-both from Washington and Massachusetts, that the federalists of the north- 
ern states have succeeded in m?.king the congress believe, that with snch an oppo- 
iition as they would make to the general government, a war must be confined to 
their own territory, and might be even too much for that government to sustain. 
I'he consequence is, that after al^ the parade and menaces with which the session 
commenced, it has been suffered to end without carrying into effect any of the 
plans of the administration, ex«ept the interdiction of commercial intercourse 
with England and France — an event that was anticipated in my former letters. 

Under what new circumstances the congress will meet in May, will depend om 
the state elections, and the changes that may in the mean time take place in 
Jilurope, With regard to-Great Britain, she can scarce mistake her true policy 
m relation to America. If peace be the £rwt object, every act which can irritate 
the maritime states ought to be avoided ; because the |)revailing disposition of 
these will generally be sufSclsnt to keep the government from hazarding any 
hostile measure. li a war between America and France be a grand desider- 

atum, something more must be done ; an indulgeat, conciliatory policy must b« 
adopted, which will leave the democrats without a pretext for hostilities ; and 
Bonaparte, whose passions are too hot for delay, will, probably, compel this 
government to decide which of the two great belligerents is to be its enemy. 
3^ To bring about a separation of the states, under distinct and independent 
governments, is an affair of more uncertainty ; and however desirable, cannot be 
efl^cted but by a series of acts ^nd long continued policy, tending to irritate the 
southern, and conciliate the northern people. The former are agricultural, and 
the letter a commercial people. The mode of cheering and depressing either is 
too obvious to require P' ustration. This, 1 am aware, is an object of much interest 
in^Gref t Britain j as [U^^^ would forever secure the integrity of his majes- 
iy^g^ posse-ssions on the continent, and make the two governments, or whatev^ 
number the present confederacy might form into, as useful and es much subject t» 
the iafiu<^nce of Great Britain, as her colonies can be rendered. But it is an object 
only to be attained by slow and circumspect progression ; and requires for its 
eonswrneaatiofi snoce atteotioq to the afikirs whicii agitate and eiccite parties ia tfci'* 



169 



THE. OLIVE BRANCH. 



country, than Great Britain has yet bestowed upon it. An unpopular v^at 
— ihat is, a war produced by the hatred and prejudices of onp party but a;];aiTi«t 
tlie consent of the other party, ran alone produce a sudden separation of any 
section of this country from the comiuon head. • 

At all events, it cannot be necessary to the preservation of peace, tliat Great 
Britain should make any great concession at the present moment ; more 
especially as the more important changes that occur in Europe irlglii render it 
inconvenient for her to adhere to any stipulations in favor of neutral maritime 
nations. 

Although the non-intercourse law affords but a partial relief to the people of 
this country from the evils of that entire suspension of commerce to wiiich they 
Imve reluctantly submitted for some time past, r^y=» Mament the repeal of the 
embargo ; because it was calculated to accelerate the progress of ti\ese states 
towards a revolution that would have put an end to tiie only republic that re- 
mains to prove that a government founded on politi-jal equality can exist in a 
season of ti ial and difficulty, cr is calculated to insure either securiiy or happiness 
to a people, 

I am, ^c. A. B. 

No. XIII. 

Boston, March 20, 1809. 

Sir — Since my letter of the 13th, nothing has occurred which 1 thought worthy 
of a communication. 

The last week of this month and the first of April will be occupied in the elec- 
tion of governor? and other executive officers in the New EnglaDd states. 

The federal candidate in New Hampshire is already elected by a majority of 
about 1000 votes. His competitor was a man of large fortune, extensive connec- 
tions, and inofTensIve m.anners. These account for the smal'ness of the majority. 

In Connecticut, no cirange is necessary : and none is to be apprehended. 

In Rhode Island, it is of no consequence of what party tlie governor is a mem- 
ber ; as he has neither civil nor military power, being merely president of the 
council. 

In Massachusetts, it is certain that the federal candidate will succeed. 

A few weeks will be sufficient in order to determine the relative strength of 
parties, and convince Mr. Madison that a war with Great Britain is not a measure 
upon which he dare venture. Since the plan of an organized opposition to the 
projects of Mr. Jefferson was put into operation, the whole of the New England 
states have transferred their political power to his political enemies : and the 
reassn that he has still so many adherents is, that those who consider the only 
true policy of America to consist in the cultivation of peace, have still great 
confidence, that nothing can force him (or his successor who acts up to his system, 
or rather is governed by it) to consent to war. They consider all the menaces 
and " dreadful note of preparation" to be a mere finesse, intended only to obtain 
concessions from England on clieap terms. From every sort of evidence, I confess 
lam myself of the same opinion ; and am Q;;j='fiilly persuaded that the farce 
which has been acting at Washington will terminate in full proof of the imbecility 
and spiritless temper of the actorj. A war attempted without the concurrence of 
both parties, and the general consent of the northern states, which constitute the 
bone and muscle of the f ountrv, must commence without hope, and end in disgrace. 
IT SHOULD, THEREFORE. BE THE PECULIAR CARE OF GREAT 
BRITAIN TO FOSTER DIVISIONS BETWEEN THE NORTH AND 
SOUTH ; and by succeeding in thi?, she may carry into effect her own 
projects in Europe, with a total disregard to the resentment of the democrats of 
this country. 

I am, S^'c, A. B. 

No. XIV. 

BoHon, April XS, 1809. 
Sir — I send to M". R. a pamphlet entitled ^' Suppressed Documents." Th* 
tjote-^ nnd comments were written by the gentleman who has written the ^'analysis'' 
which I sent by a forraer conveyance. These works have greatly contributed !• 



^HE OLIVE BRANCH. 



161 



'excite the fears of the men of talents and property ; who now prefer the ciianxe 

OV MA1NT.4INIKG THEIR PARTY RY OPEN RESISTANCE AND FINAL SEPARATION, tO ao 

alliance with France, and a war with England. So that should the government 
unexpectedly and contrary to all reasonable calculation, attempt to involve the 
countiy in a measure of that nature, I am convinced (now that the elections have 
all terminated favorably) that none of the New England states would be a 
party in it. — But, as 1 have rt^peatedly written, the general government does not 
seriously entertain any such desire or intention. Had the majority of the New 
England states continued to approve of the pLiblic meacures, it is extremely prob - 
able that Great Britain would now have to choose between war and concession. 
But the aspect of things in this respect h changed ; and a war would produce an 
incurable alienalion of the eastern states, and bring the whole country in subordi- 
nation to the iatf rest of England, r^;y=> whose navy would prescribe and enforce 
the terras upon which tiie commercial states should carry, and the agricultural 
states export their surplus produce. AH this is as well known to the democrats 
as to the other party. Therefore they will avoid a war, at least unlii the whole 
nation is unanimous for it. Still when we consider of what materials the govern- 
ment is formed, it is impossible to speak with any certainty of their measures.— 
The past administration in every transaction presents to the mind only a muddy 
<!ommixture of folly, weakness, and duplicity. The spell, by which the nations of 
Europe have been rendered inert and inefiicient when they attempted to shake it 
©ff, has stretched its shadows across the Atlantic, and made a majority of 
tlie people of fhese states alike blind to duty and to their interests. 

1 am, &C. A. B. 

No. XV. 

Boston, April 26, 1809. 

Sir — Since my letter No. 14. I have had but little to communicate. 

1 have not yet been able to ascertain with sufficient accuracy the relative strength 
of the two parties in the Liegislative bodies in New England. 

In all of these states, however, governors have been elected out of the federal 
^arty ; and even the southern papers indicate an unexpected augmentation of 
federal members in the next congress. 

The correspondence between Mr. Erskine and the secretary of state at Wash- 
ington, you will have seen before this can reach you. It has given much satisfac- 
tion to the federal party here ; because it promises an exemption from the evil 
Ihey most feared (a war with England) and justifies their partiality towards Great 
Britain which they maintain was founded upon a full conviction of her justice and 
sincere disposition to preserve peace. Even the democrats atfect to be satisfied 
with it ; because, as they insist, it proves the efficacy of the restrictive system of 
Mr. Jefferson. 

But the great benefit that will probably result from it, will be, that Bonaparte 
tnay be induced to force this country from her neutral position. Baffled in his 
attempt to exclude from tliia continent the manufactures of Great Britain, he wili 
most likely confiscate all American property in his dominions and dependencies, 
and declare war. Nothing could more than this contribute to give infiuecce and 
stability to the British party. ^XI^ "^'^^ invidious occurrences of the rebellion 
would be forgotten m the resentment of the people against France ; and thejr 
would goon be weaned from that attachment to her which is founded oa the aid 
-that W3S rendered to separate from the mother country. 

While Great Britain waits for this natural, I might say necessary result of th« 
negotiation i would it not be extremely inexpedient to conclude a treaty with the 
American government ? Every sort of evidence and experience prove, that the 
democrats consider their political ascendency in a g-reat measure dependent upoa 
the hostile spirit that they can keep alive towards Great Britain j and recent 
events demonstrate that tiieir conduct will be predicated upcJ-athat conviction — ■ 
it is therefore not to be expected that they will meet with cofl^rspoading leelinga 
ti sincere disposition on the part of England to adjust all mntters la dispute.— 
They are at heart mortified and disappointed to find that Great Britain has beea 
ia advance of tiie French government in taking ad^^a;^!:*^^ cf tl^e prcvngiaii* » 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



clauses of the non-intercourse law. And if they ghow any splr;t. - i tn^ next ses- 
sion of congress towards France, it will be ouly because they will iind Bonaparte 
deaf to entreaty, and insensible of =past favors ; or that they may t'ninr: it safer 
to float with the tide of public feejuigs which will set strongly against him, unless 
he keep pari passu with England in a conciliatory policy. 

- When 1 began my letter, I intended to make some observations in relation to 
the boundary line. — [Here 10 or 12 lines of the mauu€cript are erased.] 

i am, &c. » 'a. B. 

No. XVL 

Boston, Mav 5, iSOO. 
Sir — Although the recent changes that have occurred quiet all apprehensions 
of war, and consequently lessen all hope of a separation of the states, 1 
think it necessary to transmit by the mail of each week a sketch of passing 
events. 

On local politics I have nothing to add ; and as the parade that is made in the 
^National Intelligencer of the sincere disposition of Mr. Madison to preserve am- 
icable relations with Great Britain is in ray opinion calculated to awaken vigi- 
lance and distrust rather than inspire confidence, I shall (having nothing more im- 
portant to write abont) take leav^ to examine his motives. I am not surprised at 
his conditional removal of the non-intercourse law with respect to Great Britain, 
because it .was made incumbent on him by the act ol Congress ; but the observa- 
tions made on his friendly dispositions towards Great Britain are a matter of no 
little astonishment. The whole tenor of his political life directly and unequivo- 
cally contradicts them. His speech on the British treaty in '95 — his attempt to 
pass a law for the confiscation of " British debts'' and British prcpeity — hiscom- 
inerciai resolutions, grounded apparently on an idea of making America useful as 
a colony to France — his conduct while secretary of state — all form an assem- 
.blage of prrobabiiities tending to convince me at least that he <3oes not seriously 
desire a treaty in which the rights and pretensions of Great Britain would be fair- 
ly reco.2;nis€d. It seems impossible that he should at once divt^sit himself of his 
habitual animosity and' that pride of opinion which his presfjBt, situation enables 
him to indulge ; but above all, that he should deprive his frien^ and j-upporters 
of the benefit of those prejudices which have been carefully fost<^ed in the minds 
pf the common j)eople towards England, 'and which have so mat^rb.lly contributed 
to invigorate and augment the democratic party. Whatever his real motives 
inay be, it is in this sta^e of tlie affair harailess enough to enquire into the cau'e 
of the apparent cha;nge. He probably acts undsr a conviction, that in the pre- 
sent temper of the eastern states a war could not fail to produce a dissolution of 
ihe union ; or he may have profited by the mistakes of his predecessor ; and is 
inclined to seize the present opportunity to prove to the world that he is deter- 
•inined to be the president of a nation rather than the head of a faction ; or he 
•has probably gone thus far to remove the impression on the minds of many, that 
"he was under the influence of France, in order that he may with a better grace 
and on more tenable grounds quarrel with Great Britain in the progress of nego- 
tiating a treaty. Whatever his motive? may be, I am very certain his party will 
not lupport him in any manly and generous .policy. Weak men are sure to tem- 
porize when great events call upon them for decision ; and are sluggish and inert 
jat the moment when the worst of evils is inaction. This is the character of the 
democrats in the northern states. Of those of the south I know but little. 

I am, &c. A. B, 

^o. XVIL 

jBo5/on, iWai/ 25, 1809. 

Sir— My last was under date of the 5th inst. 

The unexpected change which has taken place in the feelings of political mes 
in this country in consequence of Mr. Madison's prompt acceptance of the friend- 
ly proposals of Great Britain has earned a temporary suspension of the conflict 
of parties ; and they both regard him with equal wonder and distrust. They 
all ascribe hia conduct to various motives ; but none believe him to be in ear- 
oest. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



163 



I". 

The state of New York has returned to the assembly a majority o" federal 
members. All this proves that an anti-commennal faction cannot rule the conr- 
mercial states. Two months ago the state of New York vras not ranked among 
tlie states that would adopt the policy of that of MassachusettB ; and any favor- 
able chanqje was exceedingly problematical. 

i beg leave to suggest that in the present state of things^ in this country my 
presence can contribute very little to the interest of Great Britain. If IS^. Ers- 
i ine be sanctioned in all lie has conceded, by his majesty's minister!^, it is unne- 
cessary for me, as iudeed it would be unavailing, to make any attempt to carry 
intoe^ect the original piifposes of my mission. While I think it to be my duty 
to give this intimation to you, I beg it may be understood that I consider myself 
^!ijtirely at the dl^^osai of ids majesty's government. 

1 am, &e. A, B. 

No. XVIII. 

Montreal, June 12, 1809. 
Sir — I have the honor to inform your excellency that I received through Mr^ 
secretary Ryland, your excellency's command* to return to Canada ; and after' 
the delays incipient to this season of the year, in a journey from" Boston, arrired 
here yesterday. 

Your excellency will have seen by the p-aper.s of the latest dates from the Uni- 
ted States, tliat a formidable opposition is already organized in congress to the late 
measures of Mr. M-adi«cn ; and it is very evident that if lie be sincere in his pro- 
fessions of attachment to Great Britain, his party will abandon him. Sixty-one 
members have already votied against a resolution to approve of what he has done j 
and I have no doubt the rest of tlie democratic party will follow the example, as 
soon as they recover from the astonishment into which his apparent defection hrir 
thrown them. 

The present hopes of the federalists are founded ofl the probability of a war 
with France ; but, at all events, this party is strong and well organised enough i& 
prevent a war with England. It would now be superfluou« to trouble your excel- 
lency with an account of the nature and extent of the [^y= arrangements made 
by the feder^^L party to resist any attempt of the government unfavorable to Great 
Britain cO] They were such as do great credit to their ability and principles ; 
and while •a judicious policy is observed by Great Britain, secure her interests ia 
America from decay. My fear of inducing a false security on the part of his ma- 
jesty's government in their elficiency and eventual success, may have inclined 
me to refrain from doing them that justice in my former letters, which I willingly 
express . 

1 trust your excellency will ascribe the style and manner of my communications 
and the frequent ambiguities introduced in them, as arising from the secrecy- 
necessary to be observed, and my consciousness th.it you understood my meaning 
on the most delicate points without risking a particular explanation. 

I lament that no occasion commensurate to my wishes has permitted me to 
prove how much I value the confidence of your e^ellency and the approbatioa 
already expressed by his majesty's minister, 
I have the honor to be, &c= 

(Signed). .JOHN HENET. 

No. XIX. 

Mr. Ry land to Mr, J, Henry y ist May, 1809*. 
My dear sir — The news we have received this day from the United States wiH, 
f imagine, soon bring you back to us -. and if you arrive at Montreal by the middle 
of June, I shall probably have the pleasure of meeting you there, as I am going 
up with sir James and a large suite. The last letters received from you are to 
the 13th April ; the whole are now transcribing for the purpose of being sent 
home, where ihey cunnoifail of doing you great credit^ arid I most sincerely hope 
ihey may e.yeniuall'if^cmtribute to your permanent advantage. It is not necessary 
to repeat the assurances that bo effort within the compa?? of my power shall lae^ 
isuniingi to thii eiid. 



164 



THE OILVE BRANCH. 



I am cnzflly out of spirits at ike idea of Old England truckling io such a dt- 
based arid accursed govtrnmtnl as that of the United States. 

I am grealiy o^: tiged to rou for the trouble you have taken in prociiriRg the 
books ; thou'^h if Spain falls I shall scarcely have heart to look into them. I can 
add no more now, but that 1 am most heartily and affectionately yours, 

(Signed) H. W. 

J, Henry, Esq. Bostoit, 

No. XX. 

Mr, ByJaiid to Mr. Henry, dated iih May, 1809. 
My dear sir — Yon must consider the short letter 1 wrols you by the last post 
a3 altogether imofiicial : but I am now to intimate tayoii in a more formal niau- 
i^er our hope of your ?peedy return, as the object of your journey seems, for the 
present at least, to be at an end. We have London news hy way of the river up 
to the 6tli of March, which tallies to a day with what we have received by 
the way of tlie states. Heartily wishing you a safe and speedy journey back 
to us, 

1 am, my dear sir, most sincerely youre, 

(Signed) . ^ H. W. R. 

Have the jioodness fo bring my books with you', though I &!>all have little spirit 
to look into them unless you bring good news from Spain. 

No. XXI. 

Mr. Henry^s Memorial to Lord Liverpool, enclosed in a leiier io Mr. Feel,, 
cf the iStli June, 1811, iciih a copy of thai kiler. 

The undersigned most respectfully submits the following statement and me- 
morial to the Earl of Liverpool. 

Long before and during the administration of your lordship's predecesfor, the 
underfigDrd bestowed murii personal attention to the state of paj ties and to the 
p'=;iiical meafures in the United States of America. 

[Here is an erasure of about four lines j 

Soon after the aflair of the Chesapeake frigate, wheri hia majesty's governof- 
|l?neral of British America had reason to believe that the two countries would be 
involved in a war, and had suhmitied to his mnjeaty^s miiiisters the arrangement 
of the English party in the United States for an efficient resistance io the general 
government, which nould probably terminate in a separation of the northern states 
from the general corfederaey, he applied to the undersigned to undertake a mission 
to Boston, where the nhole concerns of the opposition were managed. ^XJ^ ■^'^^^ 
fs&ci of the mission na: to promote and entourage the federal party to resist the meatt" 
ures cf Vie general government; to offer assurances of aid and support from his 
rnajtsty'^s government of Canada ; and to open a communication between the 
jeading men engaged in that opposition and the governor-general upon such a 
footing as circumstances might suggest ; and finally to render the plans then in 
contemplation subservient to the views of his majesty's government.* 

The undersigned undertook the mission, which lasted from the month of Janii^ 
ary to the month of June inclusive, during which period 

those public acts and legislative resolutions 
ef the assemblies of Massachusetts and Connecticut were passed, which kept 
the general government of the United States in check,, and deteired it frem car- 
Tying into execution the measures of hostility with which Great Britain was men- 
aced. 

For his service on the occasion herein recited, and the lof s of time and expenses^ 
incurred, the undersigned neither sought ner leceived any compensation; but 
trusted to the known justice and liberality of his majesty *s government for the re- 
ward of services which could not^ he humbly conceives, be estimated in pdunds, 
■ shillings and pence. On the patronage and support which was promised in the 
letter of Sir J. Craig,, under date of the 23d of January, 1809, (wherein he gives^ 
an assurance that the former correspondence and political information transmit- 
ved by the undersigned had met vyith the particular approbation of his majesty's 



•'■^ Viue the despatches of Sir James Craig in June, 1308* 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



soicretaiy of state, and that bis execution of the mission (proposed to be under- 
taken in thdt letter) weald give him a claim not only on the governor-general, 
bu*^ on hh majestjp's miniist^rs,''— the undersigned has relied, and now most re- 
8pectAiir claims, in whatever mode tiie Earl of Liverpool may be pleased to 
adopt. ' 

The undersigaad mo5t resp«ctrally takes this occasion to state that Sir J. Craig 
promised him an employment in Canada worth upwards of one thousand pounds 
a-year, by {;is letter, (herewith transmitted) under date of 13th Sept. 1809, which 
hetjasjust learned, bat:, in consequence of his absence, been given to another 
person. The undersigned abstains from commenting on this ti^^nsaction ; and re- 
spectfully suggests that the appointment of Judge- Advocate-General of the pro- 
Tince of Lower Canada, with a salary of five hundred pounds a-yeiar, or a consul- 
ate in the United States, sine curia, would be considered by him a liberal dis- 
chnrge of any obligation that his majesty's government may entertain in relation 
to his service. 

Copy qf a Letter to Mr, Peel^ tnclosing the foregoing. 

Sir — I take the liberty of enclosing to you a memorial addressed to the Earl of 
Liverpool ; and beg you will have the goodness either to examine the documents 
in your office, or those in my own possession, touching the extent and legitimacy of 
my claims. 

Mr. Ryland, the secretary of Sir J. Craig, is now in London ; and from his of- 
ficial knowledge of the transactions and facts alluded to in the memorial, can give 
any information required on the subject. 
1 have the honor to be, &c. <k-c. 

(Signed) J. H. 

June 13th, 181L 

No. xxn. 

Ldltr of the. Rt. Hon. the Earl of Liverpool^ by his Secretary R. Peel, Esq. rt" 

cognizing Mr. Henry'' s seivices^ ^fc. 

Donming-street^ 2Zth June^ 1811. 

Sir — I have Bot failed to lay before the Earl of Liverpool, the memorial, to- 
gether with its several enclosures, which was delivered to me a few days since, by 
Gen. Loft, at your desire. 

His lordship has directed me to acquaint you that he has referred to the cor- 
respondence in this ofiace, of the year 1808, and finds two letters from Sir James 
Craig, dated 1 0th April and 5th May, transmitting the correspondeuce that haf 
passed during your residence in the northern states of America, and expressing 
his confidence in your ability and judgment : but Lord Liverpool has not discov- 
ered any wish on the part of Sir James Craig, that your claims for compensation 
should be referred to this country ; nor, indeed, is allusion made to any kind of 
arrangement or agreement that had been made by that officer with you 

Under these circumstances, and had not Sir James Craig determined on his im- 
mediate return to England, it would have been Lord Liverpool's wish to have re- 
ferred your memorial to him. as being better enabled to appreciate the ability and 
success with which you executed a mission undertaken at his desire. Lord Liver- 
pool win, however, transmit it to Sir James Craig's successor in the government, 
and an assurance that from the recommendations he has received in your fa- 
vor, and the opinion he has formed on your correspondence he is convinced that 
tne public service will be benefited by your active employment in a public situa- 
tion. 

Lord Liverpool will also feel himself bound to give the same assurance to the 
Marquis VVellesley, if there is any probability that it will advauce the success of 
the application which you have naade to his lordship. 

1 am, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

_ (Signed) ROBEET PEEL, 

JoHi^ He.nby^ Esq. 27, Leicester square. 

P 2 



166 



THE OLIVE BRANCK. 



No. XXIII. 

Mr, Henry fo Mr. Peel, September 24, 1811. No other answer than or 
despaidi to Sir George Prevost, and the letter marked B. 

London, iih September, 1811. 

Sir— I have just now learned tlie ultimate decision of my Lord Wellesley 
relative to the appointment which I was desirous to obtain ; and find that the 
lubsisting relations between the two countries, forbid the creating a new office in 
the United States, such as I was solicitous to obtain. In this state of things I 
have not a moment to lose in returning to Canada, and have taken my passage in 
the last and only ship that sails for Quebec this season. As I have no time to 
enter de novo into explanations with the gentleman who is in your office, and as 
i have received assurances from you, in addition to the letter of my Lord Liver- 
pool, of the 27th June, that " his lordship would recommend me to the governor of 
Canada, for the first vacant situation that I would accept," I beg tlie favor »f 
you to advise me how 1 am to get that recommendation, without loss of time. 

I have the honor to be, &c. &c. J. H, 

Robert Feel, Esq. &c. &c. &c. 

No. XXIV. 

of O' written by Lord Liverpool, to Sir George Prevost, furnished 
by the under secretary of state. Original in the despatch to the governor 
general : 

Downing 'Street, i^thSept. 1811. 
Sir — Mr, Henry, who will hare the honor of delivering this letter, is the 
gentleman who addressed to me the memorial, a copy of which I herewith. 
IrsQsmit, and to whom the accompanymg letter from Mr. Peel was written by 
S5iy direction. 

In compliance with his request, I now fulfil the assurance which 1 have given, 
©f stating to you my opinion of the ability and judgment which Mr. Henry has 
xnanifested on the occasion mentioned in his memorial ^ and of the beneBt the 
]|^ublic service might derive from his active employment in any public situation, ifi 
%hichyou should think proper to place him. 

I am, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,. 

(Signed) LIVERPOOL. 
To Sir Georcb Prevost, Bart. &e. &c. 

No. XXV". 
Mr, Ryland to Mr, Henry. 

Tuesday evening, July 

pear Henry — It givcR me real pleasure to find that the appreliension I had 
fxjrmed with respect to the fulfilment of your expectations, is likely to prove 
erroneous. As everything which passed relative to yourmis^on was inwiiting, 
I think you vdll do well in submitting to Mr. Peel all the original papers. J, 
Miy self, could give no other information relative to the subject tfiaa what they 
contain ; as you and I had no opportunity of any verbal communication concerning 
it, till after your mission terminated. 1 never wrote you a letier in the governor's 
Battle, which had not previously been submitted to his correction. 

The impression I had received of your character and abilities made me anxious 
to serve yooj even before I had the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with you : 
«iid the same desire has operated on me ever since^ I am, tlier efore, entitled to 
hope, that any opinion which I may have given you, as to your best Tnode of ob- 
taining an employment under government, will be received with the si\aie candor 
thai; gave rise to it. 1 think you will do well to persevere as you propose. { 
have no doubt that every letter from you which Sir James sent home, will be found 
in Mr. Peel's office, as the established practice there is to bind the despatches and 
eoclosu s yearly up together. 

Siac-irely wishing you every suGces?, I am most faithfully yours, 

(Signed) H.\y, RYLAND 

John Smry, esf. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



No. XXVf. 

Mr. Henry^s inemorial to Lord Liverpool^ enclosed in Lord LictrpooVs dtspu.tr,k^ 

To the Rt. Bon. tlie Earl of Liverpool, the uodersigQecl most respectfully sub» 

mits the followiijg laemorial. 
Long before and during the- administration of yojir lordship*s predecessoF, 
Vah uadtTsigaed bestowed much personal attention^ to the state of parties and po- 
iilicai meiiviresiii tiie United States of America, and had an opportunity* [Here 
kn erasure of 10 or \Z lines] and to- unite the [an erasure here of or 3 lines] in- 
fuimiition transmitted by tlie undersigned to Sir James Craig, and by him to lord 
Castlereagh, ?nei 7j/if/i Ats lordship'' s approhaiiun:\ and when the hostile prepara- 
tions in tlie United States suggested to Sir James Craig the necessity of making 
«orresp'3oding arrangements of precaution and detence, for the security of iii« 
majesty's colonic s, be applied to the undersigned to uadertake a secret and confi- 
dtatiai mission to the northern states to 

the party already mentioned ; to direct their operations^ ani 
transmit regular information of the same, and to endeavor to render their pUn%s 
subservient to the interests of Great Britain. \ The undersigned readily undertook 
t1ie mission, and spent five mouths in the active and zealous discharge of the du- 
ties connected witti it [an erasure iiere of 20 or 2a lines')] which deterred the gen- 
eral government from the purpose already mentioned, aud from a coalition, witk 
France,|| while the information which he transmitted to Sir James Craig, probablf 
pAved the trouble and expense of arming the Canadian militia. All this the un- 
dersigned performed without ever showing hid commission or appearing as -an au- 
thorieed agent — from a thorough conviction that a discovery of his mission would 
furnish the French party with the means of destroying the influence of the party 
adhering to Great Britain in every quarter of America, and enable the general 
government to go to war upon popular and tenable ground. 

In the application of Sirpames Craig to the uiidei'signed to undertake the mission 
aforesaid, he says <Ae informaiion and political observations received from yo^ 
htreXofore were all transmitted to the secretary of state^ who has expressed his parties 
ular approbation <f them : and there is no doubt t/iat your able execution of such a.- 
mission as J have above suggested, ivouM give you a claim not only on tlie governor- 
general (of British America) but on his ma jesty'*s minister s,^^ Si c.^ 

The undersigned being now in England on his private affairs, and on the eve of 
departure for America, most humbly and respectfully aubmils his claims -under tb« 
stipulations aforesaid, to the Earl of Liverpool, in the confident expectation that 
his lordship will treat them with that justice and liberality which upon investiga- 
tion they may be found to merit. 

It may not be f?uperfluous to add that the undersigned has never received in anj 
shape whatever any compensation or patronage for tli*? services he hag rendered. 
This fact, Mr. Ryland, the secretary of Sir James Craig, now in London, cas 
vouch J as well as for the trath of all matters set forth ia this memorial, 
i have the honor, Ax. 

(Signed) X HENRY. 

27 Leicester-square, June 23, 18 1 U 

* See the letter of Mr. Henry addressed to the secretary of Sir James Cvslg, 
and by him transmitted to Lord in the month of April, 1^8. 

f See document No. 22, herewith submitteiL 
i See document No. 22 and 23, herewith submitted. 

{ See letter No. 1 of the series transmitted by Sir J. Craig, to the colonial de^ 
P^irtment, under date of Feb. 14, 1809. 
I; See the remainder of the aforesaid letter. 
See docum^at do I , herewith submitted. 



16S 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Ep>I>aro-o repealed. BriiisJi aid F> :nch vessels itderdicled/rmu 
enUrins: mr harbors. rmporiaHons from ooth counines pro- 
hibited^ Imiloiion out to both to aasc timr oulra-cs on 
our coniirurcc. 

The clamour excited against tlie embargo— the tumultuous 
proceedings in the eastern stales— ils iuefficacy to answer the 
puriiose intended, arising partly from the factious and disor- 
ganizing, and Jacobinical opposition it met with, and partly from 
the imbecility of Mr. Jeffersoa s administration, in not duly 
enforcing it, as I have already staled*— all combined to pro- 
duce its repeal, v. bichtook place on the 1st of March, 1S09. 

As a oacific measure, in lieu of the embargo, to induce the 
bellio-erents to respect our rights, and to cease depredating on 
us, under pretence of retaliation upon each other, the act com- 
monly styled the non-intercourse act, was passed, of which I 
annex those sections, which contain its leading features. 

An Act to interdict the Commercial hUercourse between tlu United 
States and Great Britain and France, and their dependencies; 

and for other purposes. 

Be it enacled by the senate md house o/Tepresen'Mivcs of the United Stales 
of America in congress assembled. That from and after the passage of th„ 
act The entrance of the harbors and waters of the United States and of 
the territories thereof, be, and the same is hereh interdicted to allpubU 
shim and vesseh belonging to Great Britain or France, excepting yesse . 
only which may be forced in by distress, or which are charged with des- 
patches or business from the government to w-h.ch they belong, and 
al.o packets having no cargo or merchandise on board. And if any pub- 
lie °hip or vessel as aforesaid, not being included in the exception above 
mentioned, shall enter any harbor or ,f « J""-^'f 

the United States, or of the territories thereof, it shall be lawful for the 
president of the United States, or such other person as he shall have em- 
Sed for that purpose, to employ such part of the land and naval 
Wror of the militia of the United Slates, or the territories thereof, 
ss he shall deem necessary, to compel such ship or vessel to depart. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That from and aft^er tbe twen eth 
day of May next, the entrance of the harbors and waters of the United 
StJtes, and the territories thereof be, and rte same is hereby interdicted to 
ell ships or vessels sailing under the flag of Great ErUain or France orowx- 
ed in uhole or in part by any citizen or subject of either ; vessels hired, 
chartered or employed by the government of either country for the sole 
purpose of carrying letters or despatches, and also vessels forced in by 
distress or by the daugers of the sea, only excepted.-^nJ if an.y ship or 
wtel sailing underihe flag of Great Britain or France, or owned in wtiol. 

♦ Seepage 51. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. im 

Br in pari oy any citizen er subject of cither, and not txccpied as aforesaid^ 
shall, after the twentieth day of May next, arrive either with or without a 
cargo, icithin the limits of thz United States, or of the territories thereof such 
ship or vessel, together with the cargo, if any, which may be found en board 
shall he forfeited, aatl may be seized and condemned in any court of the 
United States or the territories thereof, having competent jurisdiction : 
and all and every act and acts heretofore passed, which shall be w^ithi^n 
the purview of this act, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 4. And be ii farther enacted. That from and after the twentieth 
day of May next, it shall not be lawful to itnport into the United irtates 
or the territories thereof, any goods, imres, cr merchandize whatever, from 
any port or place iiiluatid in Great Britain or Ireland, or from any of the 
colonies or dependencies of Great Britain ; nor from any port or place 
situated in France, or in any of her coionies or dependencies, nor from 
any port op place in the actual possession of either Great Britain or 
France. Nor shall it be lawful to import into the Uniteil States, or the 
territories thereof, from any foreign port or place whatever, any goods, 
wares, or merchandize whatever, being of ihe growth, produce, orman- 
tifacturc of France, or of any of her colonies or dependencies, or being 
of the grov«th, produce, or manufacture of Great Britain or Ireland, or 
of any of the colonies or dependencies of Great Britain, or being of the 
growth, produce or manufacture of any place or country in the actual 
possession of either France or Great Bitain : i^rovided, that nothing here* 
in contained shall be construed to afl'ect the cargoes of ships or vessels 
wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States, which had 
cleared for any port beyond the Cape of Good Hope, prior to the twenty 
second day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seven, or 
Avhich had departed for such port by permission of the president, under 
the acts supplementary to the act laying an embargo on all ships and vee- 
gels in the ports and harbors of the United States. 

Sec. 11. And be it farther enacted, That the president of the United 
States be, and he hereby is authorised, in case either France or GreafBritain 
shall so revoke or modify her edicts, as that they shall cease to violate ihe 
neutral commerce of ihe United States, to declare the same by proclamaiicn ; 
nfter which the trade of the United States, suspended by this act, and by the 
act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of 
ihe United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto, may be 
renewed with the nation so doing; provided, that all penalties and for- 
feitures which shall have been previously incurred, by virtue of this or 
of any other act, the operation of which shall so cease and determine, 
shall be recovered and distributed, in like manner as if the same had con- 
tinued in full force and virtue : and vessels bound thereafter to any for- 
eign port or place, with which commercial intercourse shall by virtue of 
this section be again permitted, shall give bond to the United State.^, 
with approved security^ in double the value of the vessel and cargo, that 
they shall not proceed to any foreign port, nor trade with any country 
other than those with which commercial intercourse shall have been or 
may be permitted by this act. Enacted March 1, 1809. 

I have already stated, that this law, was preposterously and 
absurdly denounced, as feeble and imbecile, by ninety-nine out 
of every hundred democrats^ in the United States. And im- 
p^Atial review of it will prove the folly of this denunciation.— 



170 



THE OtlYE BRANCH, 



It evinces a deep sense of the grievous injaries the nation had 
sustained from the belligerents — ^^a sincere wish to return to the 
relations of peace and friendship with either or both- — and an 
ardent desire to try every rational mode of procuring redress 
previous to a recourse to the horrors of war. 

It held out in one hand prohibition and penalty for wrongs 
inflicted — in the other tlie Olive Branch^'^ — an invitation to, 
and premium for, a mere return to jus tice-^a mere Cessation of 
unprovoked hostility. The statute books of all the nations of 
Christendom may be searched in vain, for a law entitled to 
more unequivocal applause — and rarely has a law been more 
generally censured. 

The federalists reprobated this act as well as the democrats 
—and with equal folly and madness — but on totally different 
grounds. They regarded it, forsooth, as too violent a measure 
— as calenlated to produce war— or, in fact, absurdl}^ enough, 
as a species of warfare !: 

Sir, the bill before you isrvar. It is to suspend all inter course, to put an eni 
to all the reluiians of amity. What is that war 7 War of the worst kind — 
rmr under the disguise of non iNTEfRcouRSB— no power, having national feeliagf , 
or regard to national character, will SUBMIT to such COERCION.* 

" It [non-iatercoursej is cowardly ; /or it is a base atttmpt to bring on a war with 
Great Britain. — It i3 FRENCH in ever^f feature, JHi inUnded as a tmasure rf 
KosUlity against Gremt Britain.*^ f 



CHAPTER XXIX.J 

Embargo once more. Kecmnmended to Congress by a rcspedabU 
body of in€7xhants in New-York. 

This shall be a short chapter. Three minutes will be su{& 
cient to glance over it. I hope, however, itwillnotbe the 
least interesting in the book. 

The embargo, we have seen, w^as enacted in December 180^, 
to preserve the property of the American merchants from dep- 
redation under French decrees and British orders in council— 
and likewise to coerce the belligerents, through regard to their 
own interests, to cease violating our rights. 

The merchants, and their friends universally, throughout the 
nation, reprobated ihis measure. Independent of its pretended 

* Mr. Hillhouse*g speech on the non-intercourse bill before the senate, Febra 
ary22, 1809. 

f Boston Repertory. 

i This Chapter is out of itf? chronological order — but its immediate coanea^i^ 
with tke subject of tke preceding chapter hag iodaced me to £.lace it here. 



DE'HE OLIYE BRANCH. 



ITl 



unconstitutionality, it was denounced as tyranical, and oppress- 
ive, and unjust towards oar ©wn citizens— and feeble, and im« 
becile, and inefficient towards those nations whose insults and 
outrages it was intended to prevent. 

That these sentiments pervaded the mercantile part cf the 
cominnnity in 1807-8, I pres ume no man of character will dare 
deny. - 

Consistency is commendable, Let us enquire how far the 
merchants practised it* On the 15th of June, 1812, a memori- 
al was presented to Congress, from various merchants in New- 
York, praying for a continuance of the embargo, and the restric- 
tive system generally ! 

You are amazed, reader. You can hardly believe me. — 
You are persuaded that I am not serious — that I am putting 
your credulity to a severe trial. 

You are " all in the wrong." I am as perfectly serious as 
i have ever been. And to remove all doubt on the subject, 
here is the memorial — and here also the signers — forty two fetl- 
erallsts aa~l sixteen democrats. Yes— deny it, who can. Here 
are forty-two federal merchants, invoking congress to continue 
the much abused " restrictive system^ as likely to extort justice 
from 0reat Britain. 

MEMORIAL. 

To the honorable the Ssnate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ the iuemonal 
of the suhscribers, merchants and otlurs inJiabiiaaits of the city 
of New-York^ respectfully sherveth : 

That your memorialists feel, m comnion witu the rest of their feliow- 
<5itizens, an an?^ious solicitude for the honor and interests of their coun- 
try, and an equal determination to assert and naaintain them. 

That your memorialists h^lieve that A CONTINUATION OF THE 
RESTRICTIVE MEASURES NOW IN OPERATION, WILL. 
PRODUCE ALL THE BENEFITS, WHILE IT PREVENTS THE 
CALAMITIES OF WAR. That when the British imnistry become 
€-onvinced that a trade with the United States cannot be renewed, but 
by the repeal of the orders in council, (IT'the distress of their merchants 
and manufacturers, and their inability to support their armies in Spaia 
and Portugal, will probably compel them to that measure! 

Your raemorialists beg leave to remark, that such effects are etew 
NOW VISIBLE ; and it ^nay ba reasonably hoped, that a continuance of 
the embargo and non-importation laws a few months beyond the fourth 
day of July next, [TJ^WILL EFFECT A COMPLETE AND 
BLOODLESS TRIUMPH OF OUR RIOHTS. 

Your memorialists therefore respectfull-y solicit of yovtl HO?r- 

OBABLE BODY, TTHE PASSAGE OF A LAW CONTINT7ING THE EMBARGO^ 

and giving to the president of the United States power to discontinue 
the .whole of the restrictive system on the rescinding of the JSritish or* 
^ers in counpil. 



372 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



The conduct of France in burning our ships, in sequestrating our pro- 
perty entering her ports, expecting protection in consequence of ihe 
promised repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees, and the delay in com- 
pleting a treaty with the American minister, has excited great sensation: 
and we hope and trust will call forth from your honorable body such re- 
taliatory measures as may be best calculated to procure justice. 



John Jacob Astor 
^?MQnel Adams 
Hov-'iand <^ Grinnel 
E. Slosson 
isra^^l Gibbs 
I?aac Clason 
JohnSlidell 
John K. Townsend 
Andrew O^den k Co. 
Thomas Storm 
Amos ButiCi* 
£/benezer Burrill 
Isaac Heyr 
Ralph Bulkley 
Samuel Bell 
.J)bn F. Delaplalne 
Peter Stagg 
lOavid Taylor 
William Adee 

IVew York^ June Isty 



John T. LaTrrence 
Joseph W. Totten 
Isaac Schennerhorn 
Alexander P.uden 
Joseph Otis 
Lewis Hartman 
Garret ^Storm 
George EeDieut 
S. A. Rich 
AbralKim Smith 
Thomas H. Smith, jr 
Andrew Foster 
Jacob Barker 
William Lovett 
William Edgar, jua. 
Samuel Stiliwell 
Jacob P Giraud 
John Hone 
John Kane 
1812. 



Amasa Jackson 
William J. Robinson 
Joseph Strong 
Abraham S. Hallot 
Joshua Jones 
Fredric Giraud, jr. 
Robert Roberts 
John Crookes 
Hugh JVrCormick 
Jolin Depeyster 
Gilbert Haight 
James Lovett 
Leffert Lefferts 
Augustus ^Vynkoop 
John W. Gale 
Thomas R,ich 
Samuel Marshall 
Eibert Herring 



A member of congress, Mr. Taylor, staled that he was in- 
formed there were on that list the names of two presidents of 
banks, three presidents of insurance companies, thirteen direct- 
ors of banks, besides other names of ^'•pre-eminent standing m 
the commereial ivorhV Ponder, I beseech you, reader, on these 
things. Thej'^ demaml the most sober and serious considera- 
tion. The embargo and restrictive system generally, after 
having been defeated and rendered nugatory by mercantile op- 
position, are cow, by the merchants themselves, proclaimed 
to the world as likely to effect ^^U^a bloodless triumph of our 
rights f'' What a severe satire on themselves — what a panegyr- 
ic on their opponents — this short sentence contains ! 



CHAPTER XXX. 

The Erskine arrangement. A most liberal and magnanimous 
procedure^ probably never exceeded. Loudly app landed byall 
parties. Rejected by England, Then censured by thf^ federal- 
ists. Wonderful inconsistency. 

Never was there a meas ire of more fairness and caodor, than 
ihe arrangement made by our government with Mr. Ersk)ne. — 
The annals of diplomacy may be ransacked in vain to produce 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



173 



k negociation more deserving of encomium, or more honorable 
to both parties. In forty-four days after Mr. Madison's iaa-jgu- 
ration. Mr. Erskine made candid overtures to our government 
for an accommodation of the existing differences between the 
two nations. They were met with a proper spirit of frankness, 
and with a promptitude never exceeded. The overtures were 
dated the 1 7 th of April— the reply the same day— Mr. Erskine's 
second letter, and the reply of the secretary of state, on the 18th. 
Anil, both parties being sincerely desirous of a reconciliation, 
an equitable arrangement was adjusted in two days, that is to 
say, on the 19th, whereby neKher the honor nor the interest of 
either nation was compromitted. Friendly intercourse between 
them was once more restored. Never was a negociation con- 
ducted on more liberal or generous princifdes. It was manly 
and magnanimous — and affords one of the very few instances iu 
which diplomacy was divested of her usual attendants, chicane 
and fraud* 

To enable the reader to form a correct opinion on this subjecf, 
T annex the whole of the correspondence that took place re- 
specting it, between our government and the British minister. 
It will then appear that the transaction can hardly be too high- 
ly eulogized* 

, (No. I.) 

MR. ERSKINE TO MR. SMITH. 

IVashingioriy 17 th Jpril^ 1809=. 

Sir — I have the hcnor to inform you, that I have received his majesty's) 
commands to represent to the government of the United States, that hi^- majesty 
is animated by the most sincere desire for an adjustment of the differences, 
which have unhappily so long prevailed between t!ie two countries, the re- 
capitulaticn of which might have a tendency to impede, if not prevent an 
■amicable understanding. 

It having been represented to his majesty's government, that the congress 
of the United State?, in their proceedings at the opening of the last session, 
had evinced an intention of passing certain laws, which would place the rela- 
tions of Great Britain with the United States upon an equal footing, in ail respects 
with other belligerent powers, I have accordingly received his majesty's com- 
mands, in the event of such laws taking place, to offer, on the part of his 
majej.ty, an honorable reparation for the aggression, committed by a British 
naval officer, in the attack on the United States' frigate Chesapeake. 

*' Considering the act, passed by the congress of the United States on the 
first of March, (usually termed the non-intercourse act) as having produced 
a state of equality, in the relations of the two belligerent powers, with respect 
to the United States, I have to submit, conformably to instructions, jfor tbe 
consideration of the American government such ' errns of satisfaction and repara- 
tion, as, his maie?;ty is induced to believe, will be accepted, in the same spirit 
of conciliation, with which they are proposed. 

'' In addition to the prompi <lisavowal made by his majesty on being ap - 
prized of the unauthorized act committed by his naval officer^ whose recal ai 
a mark of the king's displeasure, from an highly important and honorable com- 
mand, immediately ensued, his majesty is willing to restore t'ie man forcibly 

Q 



i?4 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



tvilren out of the Chesapeake, and, if acceptable to the American government t& 
make a suitable provision for the unfortunate sufferers oa that occasion. 
^ " I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the highest respect and considera- 
tion, sir, your most obedient humble servant, 

D. M. ERSKINE>» 

Hx)n. Robert SmilJi.. Esq. secretary of state^ &c. 

(No. II.) 

MR. SMITH TO MR* ERSKINB. 

Beparimeni of State, April IT, 1809. 

" Sir — I have laid before the president your note in which you have, m tlje name 
5ud by the order of bis Britannic majesty, declared that his Bhtaunic majesty is 
riesirous of making an honorable reparation for the aggression committed by a 
British naval officer in the attack ©d the U. States^ frigate tlie Chesapeake ; that 
in addition to his prompt disavowal of the act, his majesty, as a mark of his dis- 
pleasure, did immediately recal the ofieadicg officer from a highly important and 
honorable command ; and that he is willing to restore the men forcibly taken out 
iif the Chesapeake; and, if acceptable to the American government, to make a 
suitable provision for the unfortunate sufferers on that occasion. 

" The government of the United States having at all times entertained a sin- 
cere desire for an adjustment of the clifTererices which have so long and so unhap- 
pily subsisted between the two countries, the president cannot but receive with 
pleasure, assurances that his Britannic majesty is animated by the same disposition 
— and that he is ready, in conformity to this disposition, to make atonement for 
the insult and aggression committed by one of liis uaval officers, in the attack on 
the United States' frigate the Chesapeake. 

*' As it appears, at the same time, that in making this offer, his Britannic ma- 
jesty derives a motive from the equality, now existing in the relations of the Uni- 
ted States with the two belligerent powers, the president owes it to the occasion, 
and to himself, to let it be understood, that this equality is a result incident to a 
fetate of things growing out of distinct considerations 

With this explanation, as requisite as it is frank, I am authorised to inform 
you, that the president accepts of the note delivered by you, in the name and by 
the order of his Britannic majesty; and will consider the same, with the engage- 
ment contained therein, when fulfilled, as a satisfaction for tlie in<ult and injury of 
which he has complained. But I have it in express charge from the president to 
ftate, that while h« forbesrs to insist on a further punisiimeut of tlie offending of- 
t'eer, iie is not the less sensible of the jubtice and utility of such an example, nor 
the less persuaded that it would best comport with what is due from his Britannic 
majesty to his own lienor. 

** I have the honor to be, with the highest respect and consideration, sir, your 
ijiost obedient servant, 

B. SMITH." 

The hon. David M. Erskine, Esq. envoy extraordinary 
and minister plenipotentiary qf his Britannit majesty. 

(No. III.) 

MR. ERSKINE TO MR. SMITH. 

Washington, April 18, I8C9. 

^'^ir — I have the honor of informing you, that his majesty, having been per- 
suaded that the honorable repaiation which he had caused to be tt^ndered for thi» 
unauthorised attack upon the American frigate Chesapeake,*would be accepted by 
the government of the United States in the same spirit of conciliation with which 
it was proposed, has instructed me to express his satisfaction, should such a happy 
termination of that affair take place — not only as having removed a painful cause 
of difference, but as affording a fair prospect of a complete and cordial under- 
standing being re-established between the two countries. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



The iir\'orable change in the relations of his majesty with the United State?, 
^ hicii has been produced by the act (usually termed the non-Jntercourse act) pass- 
ed in the last session of congress^ was also anticipated by his majesty ; and has 
encouraged a further hope, that the re-consideration of the existing dirierenceb^ 
might iead to their satisfactory adjustment. 

0:i these grounds and expectations, I am instructed to communicate to the A- 
Diericsn government, his majesty's determination of sending to the United States 
an ein'oy extraordinary, invested with full powers to conclude a treaty on all the 
poinrs of the relations between the two countries. 

*'In the mean time, with a view to contribute to the attainment of so desirable 
an object ; his majesty would be willing so withdraw ly's orders in council of Jan- 
uary and November, 1807, so far as respects the Unit^'d States, in the persuasioii 
that the president of the United States would issue a proclamation for the renew- 
iilof the intercourse with Great Britain ; and that whatever difference of opinion 
should arise in the interpretation of the terms of such an agreement will be re- 
aoved in the proposed negotiation. 

** I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the highest consideration and es? 
ieem, sir, your most obedient humble servant, 

D. M. ERSKINE.^' 

iIon> Robert Smithy S(c. i(c, S^-c, 

(No. IV.) 

MR. SMITH TO MR. ERSKINST. 

Department of Stale, April 13, 1309. 

Sir — The note which I had the honor of receiving from you this day, I lost 
BO time in laying before the president, who being sincerely desirous of a satisfac- 
tory adjustment of the differences unhappily existing between Great Britain and 
the United States^ has authorised me to assure^ you, that he will meet, with a 
disposition correspondent with that of his Britaniiic majesty, the determination of 
his majesty to send to the United States a special envoy, invested with full pow- 
ers to conclude a treaty on all the points of the relatioBs between the two coun- 
tries 

*' I am further authorised to assure you, that in case his Britannic majesty 
should, in the mean time, withdraw his orders in council of January and Novem-- 
ber, 1807, so far as respects the United States the president will not fail to issue 
a proclamation by virtue of the atithority, ard for the purposes specified, in the 
eleventh section of the statute, commonly calif. d tlie non -intercourse act, 

1 have the hoiicr," &c. &c. &c. 

R. 5MITH. 

(No. V.) 

MR. ERSKINE TO MR. SMITH^ 

Washington, Jpril 19, 1809. 
"Sir — Inconsequence of the acceptance, by the president, as stated in your 
letter dated the 1 8th inst. of the proposals maie by me on the part of his majesty, 
in my letter of the same day, for the renewal of the intercourse between the re- 
spective countries, I am authorised to declare, that his majesty's orders in coun- 
cil of January and November, 1807, will have been withdrawn as respects the 
nited States, on the 10th day of June next. I have the honor to be," ^c. 

D. M. ERSKINE. 

HonorahU Robert Smithy 8^c. Sec 

(No. VI.) 

MR, SMITH TO MR. ERSKINE. 

Department of State, Jpril 19, 1809, 

Sir — Having laid before the president your note of this day, containing air 
aasarance, that his Britannic majesty will, on the tenth day of June next, have 
«kthdriwj> his orders in council of January and November, liOT^ so far as r^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



gpects the United States, I have tlie honor of informing you, that the pre&ideni 
will accordingly, and in pursuance of the eleventh section of the statute, corximoi:- 
ly called the iion-iiilercoui se act, issue a proclamation, so that the trade of the 
United States with Great Britain afiay on the same day be renewed in the mau'- 
H§r provided in the said section. I have the hongr," &c. &c. 

R. SMITH. 

BY THE PilESIIiE?rT OF THE UNITED STATES OE AMERICA, 

A PROCLAMATION^. 

*' Wlierea^ it is provided by tlie eleventh section of the act of congress entifif d 
An act to interdict the commercial intercourse between the United States aid 
Great Britain and France, tnd their dependencies ; and for other purposes," titii 
in case either France or Great Britain shall so revoke or modify her edicts is 
that they shall cease to violate the neutral commerce of the United State?," the 
fv -sident is authorised to declare the same by proclamation; after which the 
t rade suspended by the said fict, and by an act laying an ernbr.rgo on all ship? and 
vesse's in the ports and harbors of the United States, and the several acts supple- 
mentary thereto, may be renewed with the nation so doing. And whcreiis the 
honorable David Montagne Erskine, his Britannic majesty*s envoy extraordinary 
and minister plenipotentiary, has, by the order and in the name of his sovereign, 
declared; to tiiis government, that the British orders in council of January and 
!November, 1307, will have Keen withdrawn as respects th« United States, on 
the tenth day of June next. JNV-w, tlierefore, I, James Madison, President of the 
United Stntes, do hereby procbim, that tlie orders in council aforesaid will have 
been withdrawn en the said tentJi day of June next ; after which day the trade of 
the United States with Great Britain, as suspended by the act of eoiigre^s above 
mentioned, and an act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and 
harbours of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto^ may 
be renewed. 

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington, 
the nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
L. s. hundred and nine, and of the Independence of thie United States, the 
thirty-third." 

JAMES MAD150N. 

Bij the President 

KT. SMFl H, Secretary State. 

Never was a measure more loudly or unanimously applauded. 
Parties agreed in their encomiums on the act and the actors, who 
never before or since accorded on any subject. The federalists 
cannot have forgotten — if they have, history will not forget — ■ 
that they repeatedly asserted, in the most confident terms, that 
England had been at all times ready to do us justice ; — that it 
had been in the power of Mr. Jefferson, at any period of his ad- 
ministration, to have procured equally fair and honorable terras t 
and that nothing but his profligate devotion to France, and his 
deadly hostility to England, had prevented an equitable adjust- 
ment of all our differences^. Mr. Madison was hailed as a truly 
American president. He was invited to federal entertainmenU 
— claimed as a federalist and a Washingtonian — and halcyon 
days of peace and plenty were augured under his administration^ 
w hich w^as indubitably to usher in a political millenium. This 
farce was carried on so far by the federalists, that the democrats 



OTE OLIVE BRANCH. 



17? 



Began to grow jealous. They were afraid of losing the presi- 
dent, whose election they had taken such pains to secure. 

In an evil hour for the United States and Great Britain, this 
honorable arrangement was fautuitously and dishonorably re- 
jected by the British ministry — and thus the two countries were- 
once more involved in the most vexatious discussions. 

So far as respects the administration of Mr. Madison, this' 
affair affords the most indubitable evidence of the utter false- 
hood of the chargeof French influence, with whi(^i the wide wel- 
kin has rung, and which has been, and is, 'As firmly believed by 
hundreds of thousands of our citizens, as any portion of " holy 
writ." Had there been the slightest particle of that noxious in- 
Sueuce in our cabinet, it could not have failed to prevent such a 
rapid movement as healing the long-enduring and cankered 
breaches between the two countries in two days. 

Never in the annals of mankind, did a rooted, inveterate^ 
and contemptible prejudice exist, so completely, so unanswer- 
ably borne down by a strong and irrefutable fact, as in this case 
is the accusation of French intluence : and yet no more atten- 
tion has been paid to the strong and irresistible fact, than if it 
had not the stightest bearing whatever on the subject. Through^ 
out the whole of Mr. Madison's administration, this se useless, 
this absurd, thisjacobinical cry of French influence has disturb- 
ed the harmony of the country — endangered its peace — and 
produced the most magical effects, on " the most enlightened 
nation in the world." 

In every age, and every nation there is some slang preva- 
lent, by which the people are besotted, bereft of their reason^^ 
and led " to play such pranks before high heaven, as make e'en 
angels weep." Who is ignorant of the magical effects in Great 
Britain of the cry, *' the church is in danger," whereby the se° 
veritiei and restrictions under which the protestant dissenters 
groaned for about one bun Ired and Sfty years, were firmly riv- 
eted on them. The cry oi Froich influeiice^^ in the United 
States has been so ofien i-eitsrated, and so far believed that it 
appears to thousands of oar citizens both iaipertloent and absurd 
to doubt its existeiiCe. But there never has beea the shadow of 
proof of its existence alledt^ed; And I feci perfectly confident^^ 
that there are thousands of Englisbmen in various parts of tlie 
United States, particularly . in our seaports, any oae of whom 
takes a more active part in our politics, and has more inSyence 
on our affairs, than any tv/enty Frenchoien. Talleyrand^^ ob°* 
sservation on this sybieci is perfectly just. " In every pan or 
America throiigh which I have travelled^ I have not found- 
3^ single Englishman, who did not feel himself to b<3 aa^ 



178 



THE OLIVE BTIANCR. 



American ; nor a single Frenchman who did not iSnd himself 
a stranger."^ 

There are Frenchmen in New-York, Philadelphia, and Bal- 
timore, who have been naturalized ten, twenty, and even thirty 
years, who do not interfere so much in our politics as English, 
Scotch, and Irishmen frequently do within the first month after 
their arrival. I have never, in thirty years, known three 
Frenchmen in Philadelphia who took an active part in our pol- 
itics. Many them rarely exercise the elective franchise. 

This is a digression* Let us return to the Erskine arrange- 
ment. 

The conduct of the federalists res^^ecting this celebrated in- 
strument, was to the last degree inconsistent and indeftusibie — 

They were, after it was agreed upon, as I have stated, unan-- 
imous and loud in their applause of England, for her magna- 
nimity in offering, and of Mr. Madison, for his patriotism and 
public spirit in accepting, the terms proposed by Mr. Erskine, 
The force of the langague was exhausted, in panegyrical 
strains. All the praises of Mr. Madison were accompanied by 
direct or insinuated abuse of his predecessor. The two presi- 
dents appeared like the two ends of a scale-beam. Li proportion 
as one rose, the other sunk. Mr. Madison was raised among 
tlie celestials— Mr. Jefferson sunk among the infernals- There 
was hardly one of the party from New-Hampshire to Georgia^ 
who did not assert, that had Mr. Jefferson been disposed, he 
might have made an arrangement on as favourable terms at any 
time during his administration — for England had been at all 
times equally disposed to do us justice. 

But when England rejected this arrangement-— when she gave- 
the lie direct to all their asseverations of her willingness toad- 
just the differences between the two countries, on fair and hon- 
orable principles- — they still defended her. They assailed, and 
abused, and vilified, and degraded their own government. And 
Mr. Madison, who had been placed among the stars of heaven,, 
sunk down at once below the horizon into pitchy darkness, 
with his predecessor. And for what ? Had he committed any 
erime to warrant this change of opinion ? No* Had he alter- 
ed the sy stem of conduct which ha^i been so highly extolled ?— 
No. Had he broken his faith with England ? No. Had he 
failed of his duty to his country ? No. His only crime was^. 
that England broke the faith her minister had so solemnly pledged 
io him^ and to that cruelly hijured and outraged country! 1 1 1 
Alas ! alas ! poor human nature ! 

* Memoir on the Coremsrcial Relations of tlie United States with England; , 
page l|. 



THE OLIVS BRANCH, 17§ 

To establish fally what I have asserted, I annex extracts 
from the federal papers and speeches, published before and after 
the fatal, the monstrous, the absurd rejection of this arrange- 
ment. 

" We owe it to Mr. Madison aird his cabinet to say, and we do it with prid^ 
and pleasure, that they have come forward vvith a degree of procipHtude and 
manliness which reflect much honor on ikeni and the country. Mr. Madison has 
now done what Mr. Jefftrson was requested by the British government to do rn 
the note appe nded to the treaty returned by kim Mr Aladison is now eflfectually 
resisting the French decrees, by a total rxon-lntercourse with that country; and 
this country wiil thank him for it to the latest generation." United States' Ga- 
zette, xYpril 24, 1809. 

" [117° '^^'^ candar, liberaUty-, and sincerity displayed in those documents^ art 
alike. ho7iorabk to the two governments.'''' Poulson's American Daily Advertiser, 
April 22, 1809. 

** The non-intercourse with France, which congress threatened Nov. 22, 1808, 
and really enacted March 1st, 1309, to take place on 20th May next — this meas- 
ure against France, produced what no measure again^st England alone could ob- 
tain. England was to be wonwilh signs of justice and impartiality ; and yielded 
to these considerations mkai she wnUd not yield either to threats or/orce. -—Bostoa 
Repertory, May 9, 1809. 

*' Nothing here said is designed to reflect on Mr. Madison as the president of 
the United States, In the first act in which he kas been called upon, 

HE HAS behaved WITH WISDOM. May he go on so. Mr. Madison thus far has m 
feet acted ministerially : that is, pursuant to an act of congress, or the generally 
expressed voice of his countrymen.'' — Idem. 

" Vv^e shall not stop to enquire whe.'her the spirited and vigorous measures of 
New-England — their determined public declarations that they would not submit 
to an unnecessary and destructive war, has induced the adniinistraton to listen to^ 
the same terms n^hich Great Britain has ahvays been ready to offer., and to 
wnich we have uniformly contended she was sincerely, disposed.'''* — Boston Gazette, 
April, 1809. 

*' That Mr. Madison does not wish to embroil us with England, we are no^r 
thoroughly convinced ; while he continues to pursue an honest and impartial policy, 
where he makes one enemy he will gain a dozen friends " — Baltimore Federal 
Repiiblicariy as quoted by the Philadelphia Gazette, June 22, 1809. 

" Scarcely was Mr. Madison seated in the chair of state, when, contrary to all 
our expectations, but agreeably to all our wishes, he gave the lie to all his elee- 
tioneering advocates ; abandoned practically and in the face of the world the pol- 
icy and course of the sage : and concluded with Mr. Erskine an agreement, 
which. knocking the ignominious hand-cuffs fr-'- '^ ^mr hands unmooHng our 
ships, rfjfjicing our hearts, and elevating our hopes,c£^ tkew from the uiiion, (the 
jacobins excepted) an unfeigned burst of heart-cbeering applause, Never 
states^m/in did an act more popular or more conducive to the h ue and permauenl in^ 
terest of his country,'''' — Philadelphia Gazette, June 23, 1809. 

" The public documents which we this day have the satisfaction of laying be- 
fore our readers are of a highly pleasing and interesting character. The note of 
Mr. Erskine furnishes satisfactory evidence of a real disposition on the part of 
his government to adjust, on permanent principles, the long subsisting differences 
with this country : and Mr. Smith's answer to tliat note evinces a candor and- 
promptitude equally honorable to the views and wishes of the Americii: idnri'nis- 
tration. While both parties are governed by this spirit of corfidenc.e in the assur-^ 
a^ces of each other, we can foresee no possible ciT-cumstanc? to impeis taei:' arri- 
ving at a full, liberal and advantageous accommodatiGn." — Philadelphia Guutfe-j, 
Jane 19,^ 1009. 



ISO 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



- "Wc sincerely tru«t that an enlightened administration will continue by ii3 
measures; of prudence, ecoaomy and wi«dom, to increase the mortiGcatiou and 
rage of men, aliens to the true interests and honor of our country.'' — Ibid. 

On the 2d of May, 1809, Mr. Randolph moved in the house 
©f representatives of the United States, the following resolu- 
tion ; — - 

" Resolved, That the promptitude and frankness with which the prefident of 
the United States lias met the overtures of the government of Great Britain to- 
wards a restoration of harmony and free commercial intercourse between the two 
Bations, meet the approbstion of this house." 

This occasioned a long debate, in which the federalists were 
universally in favor of the motion. Mr. Barent Gardenier was 
among the most ardent eulogists of Mr. Madison. There ap- 
peared to be naboands to his applause. 

" This tree, from which we expected to gather only the fruit of bitterness an<J~ 
sorrow, is already yielding:, us fruit far different — gladness and unspeakable joy. — 
To speak in the language of the resolution, ''the promptitude and frankness nith 
nhick tfit president has met the overtures of Great Britain," while they receive tne 
applause and the gratitude of the cation, call not less imperiously for an unequiv- 
ocal expression of them b? this house. 

I must say that I do like ihs words ' promptitude and frankness.' The com- 
pliment they convey is highly m'^r.ted, as 1 shall endeavor to prove. • • 

**For bringing about ihh state of things, 1 yield my hearty approbation 
to the president of the United States ; and I believe that when none of us couW 
see the end of our troubles, the president was secretly conducting us to the late 
iiappy results. 

" But at last that stace of things, ORIGINALLY PROPOSED BY GREAT 
BRITAIN, has been brought about, both as it regards the equality contended for 
and as regards the assura;]ce of resistance de.>ired. The proclamation being re- 
moved, a fair adju.^tment couid meet with no impediment from that cause. — 
IJ]^ And it is a m-eiauclioly fact, in this respect there never would have beeo an 
impediment, if THIS government had been willing to do originally what it has 
at last consented to do. 

" It is for the * promptitude and frankness with' which the president met this 
overture, that I thank liim mos; cordially in behalf of nay country. I approve it 
most heartily, 

*' And it is now in proof before us, as I have always said and contended, tha. 
Nothing was wantiiig but a proper .spim of conciliation — nothing but fair and 
hoijorable dealing on the part of THIS countrr, to bring to a happy issue ail the 
fictitious differences between this country aiid Great Britain ; and that is now ac- 
knowledr;ed to be trae, for saving which I have been so much censured — censur- 
ed, because it suited the purposes of some people to attribute to me a confidence 
in the jjsticeof the British government, which did noc bfecome an American citi- 
zen. 

*^ Tlie president very properly relying on the assurances of the British minis- 
ter, t]\at the edicts of Great Britain would hav3 been withdrawn on or before 
the twentieth of June th.en next, authorised a renewal of intercourse after that 
day." 

The governor of Blassachusetts, in his speech to the le- 
gislature, unites his praises with those of Mr. Gardenier — 

*' We have greai, reason to indu'^ge the hope of realising those views [arising 
from a revival of commerce] from the prompt and amicable disposition with 
^liicliit is understood- the pjesent federal adoiioictratioii met the conciliatory 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



181 



overtures of Great Britain— rr^ a disposition which is entitled to, and will cer- 
tainly receive, tlie hearty appiobation of every one who sincerejy loves the peace 
and prosperity of the nation. " 

The senate and house of representatives re-echo the enco- 
miastic strain : 

The present administration of the general government has had the wis- 
dom to discern, and patriotism to commence, a course of policy respecting our 
commerce and foreign relalioas, which is calculated to prcmote the prosperity, 
and to secure the peace and independeiice of our conntry.'' 

*' The prompt acceptance hy the federal administration of the conciliatory 
overtures of Great Britain, wiiich opened the door for the removal of those 
grievous embarrassments by which the industry and ecterpiise of our citizens 
have so long!,been paralized, rj;^ meets the approbation and will ensure the 
support of this commonwealtii." 

Messrs. Wagner and Hanson chimed in \Tith the general 
strain of approbation, which w&s carried to the utmost extent, 
in order, by the contrast, to blackea the character of tlie former 
administration. 

Sophistry is b'.'ti'y at work in the democratic papers to show that the acconG" 
modation with Engi-^ndi s the result cf democratic plans- — that is to say, of the 
embargo and non-interc(Durse law. If this could be made to appear, it would so 
far absolve their authors from the ruin and sufferings imposed by those laws, as 
to prove that they had some effect. But the common sense of the people is proof 
against the delusion ; who are persuaded that what was so easily effected in April 
last, might have been done long before, and the nation been thereby saved from the 
humiliation of retiring from the exercise of its rights upon the ocean, as well as 
the immense loss it has suffered, and continues to sustain in the decay and depre- 
ciation of its produce. Every reflecting mind feels this at once ; nor does it re- 
quire any circuitous argument to be convinced, that a persevering and ardent 
opposition to these democratic juggles, and not a voluntary abandonment of them, 
broke the embargo, and placed France and Great Britain upon that equal footing 
which the latteh uniformly declared would induce her to compromise. 

" Sincere and general as has been the joy spread by the return of a good under- 
standing with England, will be the indignation, which at no distant day, a calm 
review of the snares which have been laid to entrap our peace, and extinguish 
our prosperity will unavoidably inspire. The current of the disapprobation of 
this conspiracy is not at a stai\d. It ha.3 much greater progress to make ; nor 
will it stop until it places an insuperable bar against even the aspiring party whick 
till lately has lorded it without opposition over the state of Maryland.*'* 

I shall add to these extracts the sentiments of Mr. Coleman* 
editor of the New-York Evening Post, which are as strong and 
decisive as any of the others. 

" Look at the files of this paper for a twelvemonth. You will find it insisted 
upon that Great Britain wished for an adjustment of differences, and wouLi 
come to an accommodation the moment we gave her a chance to do so, by placing 
her on an equal footing with France. Mr. Erskine very promptly begitis, b^ 
stating, on cur goverament's placing England on a footing with France, England 
will make reparation — just precisely what i have said a hundred times 
over in this paper, she would vert gladly do. 

*' The first part of the second resolution accompanying the report of the com- 
mittee of foreign relations, contemplated an arrangement by which the respect- 
ive belligerents would be placed in a state of equality as to the exclasiaa of thti^ 



^Federal Republican, July 4,.im 



182 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



ships of -trar from our harbors. TliIs report was sent to England ; and imiDedi- 
ately the British minister directed Mr. Erskine to make the propositions ^^hich 
have lately been acceded to and published, provided any measuie was adopted 
which would place Great Britain in a state of equality with her enemies, as to 
tlie admission or exclusion of her ships of war from our harbors. The non-in- 
tercourse ACT AVAS OF THIS NATLRE. Mr. Erskiue staled the intentioas of his 
government, and an agreement has been made.^f 

" Well may the merchants of Alexandria rejoice at Mr. Madison's return to 
the good old principles of Federalism. Let the crazy professors of Jefeerson- 
iSM give themselves up to weeping and wailing, and all the alSicting stings of jeal- 
ousy and mortiticatiou. The federalists WILL pay homage to Mr. Madison, 
while he continues to pursue the course he has taken. 

Relying on the good faith of Great Britain, our government 
immediately removed all the restrictions on her cominerce, re- 
stored the intercourse between the two nations to the state in 
which it had been previous to the misunderstanding, and natu- 
rally expected to be met on the same fair and honorable ground 
by the other contracting party. But fatally other counsels pre- 
vailed at St. James'. The solemn contract mr^de by its minis- 
ter plenipotentiary was rejected on the ground of his having 
" exceeded his instructions." 

Had Mr. Erskine made a wanton sacrifice of the honor and 
interests of his country — the rejection of his arrangement might 
be palliated, perhaps justified. But no man w ho has any re- 
gard to his character, will pretend this to have been the case.— 
Both were equal 1}^ secured. And to prevent any difficulty in 
the adjustment of the dispute, to evince more fully Mr. Madi- 
son's sincere wish for harmony, the thorny and difficult sub- 
ject of impressment was laid aside for future negociation. 

But Mr. Erskine exceeded his instructions." What in the 
name of heaven, I ask, must have been the instructions that 
did not warrant an envoy extraordinary to propose or ratify 
such an arrangement; so plain, so simple, so fair, and so hon» 
orable ? 

But admitting for a moment, that Mr. Erskine exceeded his 
lastructions — or let us even suppose that he had made this ar- 
rangement of his own mere motion, without any instructions 
whatever — ^what reasonable objection could be made to it ? — 
€ouId the most partial friend of England, if actuated by honor- 
able views, require better terms ? 

Let us analyse the arrangement — let us state the quid pr^ 

t New-York Evening Post, Apiil 21,1 809. 
i Federal Republican. 

^ These extracts are dHefly takes from *' Things as they are;''' 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 183 

To America it afforded 

1. A repeal of the orders in council — 

"2. Atoneraeat tor the outragt. on tlie Chesapeake. 

To En^kL?id 

1. A restoratloii to all the immense advantages of the most 
valuable comraerce in the world — 

2, A con tiniiri lion of the suspension of intercourse between 
the UaUed States <^nd France, 

I freely appeal at this moment to George Ca'bot, James 
Lloyd, jau. governor Siroag, Timothy Pickering, Alexander 
Contee Hanson, or to Lord Oastlereagh, to decide whether 
there were aaj/ thing in these terms rijat could warrant the gov- 
ernment of a mighty nailon to i)reak the faith pledged by its 
minister — and to attach shame, disgrace, and dishonor to that 
minister in the eyes of his own nation and of the whole world ? 
Neither of these gentlemen will dare to aver that there was. 

The reader who has perused with attention the Erskine ar- 
rangement, and consi0.ered the advantageous terms it ensured 
to England, will ae struck with surprise. He will naturally ask, 
by what illstarred and fatal counsels were the British ministry 
influenced to reject this measure ? This is a question not easi- 
ly answered. I shall attempt a solution. 

A recurrence to the 26th chapter of this work, will shew the 
tumultuous, disorganizing, and Jacobinical proceedings that oc- 
curred in Massachusetts in the early part of the year 1809. — 
Open resistance to the embargo vvas advocated in the papers — 
preached from the pulpit — plainly menaced in the legislative 
body-*— and publicly proclaimed in inflammatory resolutions of 
town meetings. 

Intelligence of these disgraceful, these Jacobinical proceed- 
ings reached England contemporaneously with the account of 
Mr. Erskine's arrangement. It is highly probable that the Bri- 
tish ministry deceived themselves into the opinion that our 
government would be obliged to abandon tiie restrictive system 
altogether ; that they would then be able to enforce the orders 
in council, without losing the advantages of our trade ; and that 
this consideration induced them to reject the arrangement. 

This I offer merely as a conjecture. That it is plausible, 
cannot be denied. But in our day there will probably be no 
opportunity of ascertaining how far it is correct. 

Another reason has been assigned. It is said that George 
ill. was irritated at the implied censure of his government re- 
specting the conduct of admiral Berkley, which, it is asserted, 
so far wounded his feelings as to induce him to reject the ar- 



184 



THE OLIVE BRANCH- 



rangement. Many of oar citizens have defended the rejection 
on this ground. Let us calmly and boldly investigate the af- 
fair. 

The United States are in a state of profound peace. One of 
their frigates leaves port. She expects no attack. She is un- 
prepared for resistance. She is followed by a vessel of superior 
force, belonging to a friendly power. This vessel has just en- 
joyed the hospitalities of our |)orts. She overtakes our frigate. 
She imperiously demands four seamen, said to be British. — 
British or Americans, Ibey had entered voluntarily. And let 
it be borne in remembrance, the demand is made by a nation 
which holds in bondage, thousands of our citizens, who, in the 
pursuit of their law ful vocations, have been seized by force and 
violence, and often w ith bloodshed and desperate wounds. — 
And further let it be also borne in remembrance, the demand 
is made by a nation which has proclaimed, as an trrev@ca- 
BEE L.AW^ TO ALL THE W ORLD, that 67?€ wHl liold ot evcvy Jiazavfl^ 
those seamen^ natives of yvhaisoever country they may he^ who en- 
ier her service voluntarily.^ The demand is repelled. Our 
frigate is attacked. Our unresisting citizens are cruelly mur- 
dered ! ! ! The decks of the vessel flow^ with blood ! ! She is 
taken. The crew is overhauled. Four of them are outrage- 
ously seized and made prisoners. One is ignominiously hang- 
ed ! ! The other three, fully proved to be impressed Americans, 

are held in bondage 1 can go no farther My pen refuses 

its office Does not this blood cry to heaven for vengeance 

on the murderer ? Can the foul stain be effaced but with blood ? 
" Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." 

But, reader, 1 was wrong. My feelings led me astray.— 
The atonement was worthy of the justice of the monarch 
whose subjects perpetrated — worthy of the nation which suf- 
fered — the horrible outrage. For Admiral Berkley " was recall- 
edfrom a highly impoH ant and honourable command, as a mark 
of the king^s displeasure //"f But let it be added, he was recalled 
to be placed on a better station. — ^He was removed from Halifax 
to be stationed at Lisbon 4 And this w as the only mark of 
displeasure he ever experienced. In 1810, he was prom^Tted 
from the rank of vice-admiral to that of admiral. He is now lord 
high admiral of Portugal. 

* Tliis rea=on lias been repeatedly assigned, to justify a refusal of the surrender 
of natives of America, held in bondage on board British vessels of war, when 
claimed by the proper afce.its of oar government. 

f See Mr ErsVine's Ijetter, No. V. 

X The outrage was committed in Juce. He did oot leare Halifpjc till Decem- 
ber. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



185 



To be serious. Every man of a correct mind and sound prin- 
ciples felt that his Britannic majesty ow ed it to himself to have 
displayed his disapprobation of the foul deed in some other and 
more decisive mode. The offender ought to have been severely 
punished. And therefore it is impossible not to approve the 
dignified but mild style in which the president treats the trans- 
action : — 

" I am authorised to inform you, that the president accepts of the note deliver- 
ed by you, in the name and by the order of his Britannic majesty, and will con- 
sider the same, with the engagement contained therein, when fulfilled, as a satis- 
faction for the insult and injury of which he has complained. But 1 have it in ex- 
press charge from tbe president to state, that while he forbears to insist on a fur- 
ther punishment of the offending officer, he is not the less sensible of the justice and 
utility of such an example, nor the less persuaded that it nould best comjaori witli 
tvhatis due from his Britannic majesty to his omn honors 

To enable us to form a correct idea of this transaction, let ns 
suppose that Commodore Barron had anchored in Portsmouth 
or Plymouth — that twenty of his sailors had voluntarily entered 
on board a British frigate — that he had demanded them — that 
he had followed the frigate to sea— had attacked her — had kill- 
ed part of her crew — had seized as many as he judged proper — 
and, finally, to cap the climax, that he had hanged one of them. 
What w ould be the result ? Vengeance ! vengeance ! w^ould 
have been the cry from the Orkneys to the Land's End — and 
nothing would appease the insulted dignity of England, but Co- 
penhagenizing New- York, or Baltimore, or Philadelphia, or 
Charleston* 

" My dear Sir, one of my oxen has gored one of your cows." 
Well, to be sure, you will make reparation — you will send me 
a cow in the place of tbe one I have lost. To that you cannot 
jnake any objection." " It is all very right. But hold, I mis- 
took. It is all the other way. It was your ox that gored my cowJ^ 
" So, so — ^well see about it. Call some other time." " My good 
Sir — this is not very correct. The busiiiess would Jiave been soon 
settled^ had you been as willing to do justice to others^ as to receive 
it frmn them. 

Since the above was written, I have consulted Mr. Canning's 
despatches to Mr. Erskine, by which it appears that the British 
government calculated on Mr. Erskine's adjusting the dififerences 
between the two nations on the following basis : 

Extract of a letter from Mr. Canning, Secretary, to the hon, David M, Er- 
skine^ dated Foreign office^ January 23, 1809. 
*' I. That the American government is prepared, in the *rvent of his majesty *s 
consenting to withdraw the orders in council of January and November, 1807, to 
withdraw coteicporaneously oa its part the interdictioc of ite harbors to ships of 

R 



186 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



war, ami all non-iotercourse and non-iinportation acts so far as respects Great 
Britain ; leaving them iu force with respect to France, and tlae powers wKich a- 
dopt or act under her decrees. 

*'2. (What is of the uLaiost importance, as precluding anew source df tni5un- 
derstanding which misht arise after the adju?*tnient of the otiier que^tioli^.) 
(XT^'THaT AMERICA 15 WILLING TO REaOUACE, DURIAG i HE. 
l^KESENT WAE, THE PKETENbiON OF CARRY1^G Ox\, E\ TIME 
OF WAR, ALL TRADE WITH THE ENEMiE.'^' COLONIES. FROM 
VVHiCH SHE WAS EXCLUDED DURING PEACE ! ! ! 

^* 3. Great Britain, for the purpose of securing the operation of the embargo, 
and of the bona Jidt mteutioa of America to prevent her citizens from tradiii.- "^vith 
France, and tlie powers adoptin'i and acting under the French dtcrees. rrr'IS 
TO BECONSHJERED A^ BEL^G AT LlBERTV TO CAPTCRL LL 
6i:CH AMERICAN VESSELS AS MAY EE FOUND AT IEMPTLNG TO 
TRADE WITH THE PORTS OF ANY OF THE-E POWERS ! ! ! without 
which security for the oljservance of the embargo, the rai;ing of it nominally with 
respect to Great Britain aione, would, in fact, rai^^e it v.iui respect to ail the 
world. 

" m*^^ /^cTse conditiom his rrrjesly nauld consent to mlkflraiv iht orders in 
CcuiiciL of Janimry and Novtinbtr^ loOT, so far as resptcts America.'*^ 

Let us examine tliis most precious document vrith all the 
attention its importance demanils. Let us weigh its every line 
and every word. Let us see what justice, w hat fair dealing it 
meted out to this injured, this iHsulted, this plundered nation. 
Let us see how far the advocates of English liberality and Eng- 
lish justice are borne out in their commendations of England, 
and their intemperate abuse of their own government. 

The ^4ers in council, existing at the date of the Erskine 
arrangement, blocivaded France, Holland, and a part of Italy ; 
containing a population of about fifty millions of people. 

By Mr. Canning's instructious to Mr. Erskine, these orders 
were to be rescinded on three c-onditions — 

1. Taking off all reslrletions from the English commerce. 

2. [17= ^' Renouncifig during the existing w ar, all trade Mith 
the enemies' €&lonies from which w e were excludetl in time of 
peace in other words^ assenting by treaty to the unjust and 
exploded rule of 1 756. 

3. Allowing the British to capture onr vessels bomid to France 
snd her dependencies ; which, reader, [17^ is neither 3iore 

KOR LESS, THAN WEAVING THE -ORDERS IjS^ COLNCIL INTO A 

TREATY — giving our own solemn sanction to the extravagant 
pretensions of Great Britain to limit our trade, which preteu- 
sions we had steadily resisted. 

Stupendous injustice! — Never before were such revolting 
propositions made to any nation, not absolutely subjugated. 
What ! Make a treaty by which we let loose upon our defenceless 
commerce, the whole host of the thousand public ships of w ar, 
and the hundreds of privateers,, of the greatest naval power in 
the world t The mind is lost in astonishment at such aa unpar- 
^Jleled requisition, * 



i^HE OLIVE BRANCH. 



18? 



But gross, and insulting, and outrageous as was this proposition 
* — destructive as its acceptance would have been to tiie vital 
interests of this country — there was no federal printer from 
New-Hampshire to Georgia, that expressed a single word of 
censure of the conduct of England for her daring and insulting 
iiemands, or for her breach of the contract. No. England was 
imiformly right— their own government as uniformly wrong.— 
f t seemed impossible for England to commit any act, or make 
any demand that would not be justified — 

Let me establish these allegations— 

It having been shewn, that the plea of ignorance is inadmissible in the case of 
'lie Erskine arrangement ; that it was the secretary's duty to know the power g> 
the minister before he proceeded to act upon it ; that to act upon an unknown 
power, is to act without power : it follows that our administration, if they uU- 
flerstood their business, must have been aware ttiat r^^^tkey were negociafing wUli 
an unauthorized individual — unauthorized qpoad hoc, as to this particular 5i.ihj<£ct ; 
with one who had shewn no authority for the jmrpose. Consequently tiuy had no 
reason to rely on, nor to expect, a fulfilment of the compact by the Bi iiish gov- 
f-rnment, knowing as they did^ thai it had been agreed upon miihout any adequate 
'information of the terms having been authorized by that government. " 

Uniied States' Gazette,, December U, I£09. 

Now, ray dear reader, whoever you be, that have come thus 
far with me, let me solemnly invoke you, in the name of the 
God of Peace, to make a pause here. As you value your 
beloved country — as you prize its honor— its happiness — your 
own welfare — the happiness, the welfare of your posterity- 
review this whole subject. I must once more bring it before 
your eyes. 

A British envoy extraordinary and minister pieiuipotentiary 
informs our government that he has orders to propose an ar- 
rangement of two or three leading points of difference between 
the two countries, preparatory to a treaty. His overtures 
are accepted. An arrangement is made. It is highly advan- 
tageous to both nations, bat more particularly to that of tlm 
envoy. There is not the slightest sacrifice of its honor or 
interest. After this arrangement is completed, we are assured 
ten thousand times that England had been always ready to 
arrange o?ir differences on these very terms. The United States 
Gazette expressly states that "she had requested Mr. Jeffersou 
to do the same thing." — And yet, when the arrangement is re- 
jected, this same United States Gazette asserts that the envor 
extraordinary had no power to make the convention — defends 
England for the breach of her engagement — and, as I have 
already stated, transfers the odium to its own government ! \ I 
No powers of language are adequate to express ray astonisk- 



IS8 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



^ **No expression has escaped any member of the British cabinet, either in psr- 
liament or elsewhere, making indecorous insinuations against the United States, 
aianifesting a temper ucfriendly to conciliation. On the contrary tliey have de- 
clared a wish to renew amicM}U- negcciaiion ; have named a minister for that pur- 
pose ; and with at least apparent sincerity have expressed their fears that this 
unfortunate error of Mr. Erskine may increase the diflSculties of a friendly ar- 
rangement between the countries." United States' Gazette, Get. 5, 1809. 

*' By letters from well-informed men in England, we are assured that the con- 
duct of Mr. Erskine is co^idermitd hy all parties in Uiat country ; that the temper 
©f the public is far beyond that of the ministry. A very general opinion prevails 
there, that it will be very diSBcult to keep any terms with this country ; that ne 
are governed, hy mtn devoted to the liiU resis of France^ 7rho are determined to insist 
on terms from En^layid akich never can be obtained ! ! 

BostonPalladium, Aug. 11, 1309. 

" The people have heenjiagranUy deceived^ and grossly abused 1 1 ! The matter 
rests bttneeii Mr. Erskine end our administration ! ! ! Wherever the blame shall 
attach, it is for the people to apply or originate the remedy." 

Fed. Republican^ July 31. 

" In short, Mr. Erskine surrendered every thing, and got notJiing in return ! ! 

Ibid. 

For our part, rcc have had hut one opinion from the commencement of this mys- 
terioiLS affair — and we have made bold to express it. It is^ that Mr. Erskine act- 
td contrary io his instructions ! I ! — and thuit secretary Smith knerv rvhat these iTt- 
stntctions 7vere ! I /" Ibid. 

Before I offer nnv comment on the three last articles, I v> ish 
to state to the reader, that I have extracted them from a pamphlet 
published by Mr. Niles, called " Things as they are" — that I 
have had no opportunity of collating them with the originals — 
but that I have written to Mr. Hanson, one of the editors of the 
Federal Republican, to correct me if I have misquoted his 
paper. I have received no reply — and therefore it is to be 
presumed the quotations are correct. 

Mr. Hanson states that " Mr. Erskine surrendered every tki?ig, 
and got nothing in return /" What a stupendous disregard of fact 
is embraced in these few words \ it is impossible to exceed it. 
What did he surrender ? Merelv the odious, the uniust orders 
in council ! And did he receive nothing in return ? Was (he 
immense trade of the United States nothing ? Was it nothing 
to perpetuate the non-intercoui^e with France, till she rescinded 
her piratical decrees ? I aver in the face of this nation, and 
defy Mr. Hanson to controvert the fact, that England gained 
immensely ; and that she surrendered nothing but w hat justice 
ought to have induced her to have surrendered Ions: before, oi* 
her own accord. 

" I entreat my fellow citizens to accompany me a little further in the ex8mi]i:i- 
tion of those invectives which the leaders of an immense party in this counti^ 
incessautlv utter against Great Britain ^or the purpose of exasperating us into war. ' ' 

U, States Gazette, Oct. 13, ISOO. 



THE OLIVE BRAN OK. 1S^3 

He (Mr Erskine) also-declarcs that the ^rhUh government have undoubt- 
edly rl^ht to disavow the agreement , and they nave done every thing that became 
an honorabh nation to prevent evil consequences arising to the citizens of this 
country from trusting to the terms of the agreement beinz fulfilled." 

U. States Gazette, Oct. 3, 1809. 

It is a truth which the wisest and be?t patriots of America have long an3 
geriously deplored, that the past admir.istrfdim had furnished no sympiam 
imparUality betrceui the two helligereTXis. previous to the act inhibiting the entrance 
- of our ports to the armed vessels of the one as well as of the other. In that spirit 
which Mr. Smith still retains, and now laboi«* to re^4ve in the bosom of others, 
hostility to England and tame subserviency Vj France, a re knonn to have been lis 
characteristic ftaiures ! ! ! The facr^: are in the possession of every man ; whicii 
prove that the feelings of the great body of the people, not their leaders, preserved 
us from a war in which a complete success would h.>ve riveted chains on ourselves..'" 

U. S Gazette, October IS, 1809. 

^ It will be observed that this show of words, and these negative statements, 
^afte^ all, by the president, serve only to make tne public believe, that he had 
'liti reason to apprehend a dimvoival. He is not hardy enougii to say, that under 
the circumstances of the case, the British government nas bound to abide by 
£r*.Vine*s era* ; er that they conducted perfidiously in disavowing it. Yet this 
aspersion, one of t he most injurious aad provoking that can be thrown upon a 
tiatioa, has been uttered, and incessautly-. repeated, for several months, in every 
democratic paper in the anioB*" idem, December 20, 1509. 

*' Every otje acknowledgi&s, fnat had our executive concluded the arrangement 
cf April last with Mr. Erskine, knowing that he was unauthorized, the whole 
responsibility for t!ie consequences, however serious, would have rested upon 
themselves. It has been maintained by the editor ef this Gazette, and is now 
demonstrated by the indubitable autlK^nties, adduced by Mr. Dina, that to have 
done so without knowing that he rvas authorized, 7vas equally unwarrantable^ arid 
left the administration no ground on whirJi to claim a ratificaiian of the proceeding 
ky the British government, it is proved beyond a doubt, that the govermnen* 
might, 7vithjusi as much prnpriety, huive cajoled with general Smith, or any other 
■ individual ; concluded a convention ; proceeded to carry it int9 execution on their 
part ; and then raised a clamor against the government of Great Britain, and 
accused them of perfidy and breach of faith for ndt recognizing and fulfilling thz 
itipulations.'' idem, Dec. 28, 1803. 

*• If, as asserted by Mr. Erskine, his powers were communicated to our cabinet 
in substance— if the heads of departments did early communicate to the leading 
members of both branches of their own politics, the incompetency of his powers^ 
and theprobability ofthe rejeciion of the agreement by Great Britain— i\\en that 
aJjiistment, so far from being a proof of a disposition to mike peace and settle our 
differences, 13 TtfE STRONGEST EVJDEiYCE OF A HOSTILE TEMPER:' 
because Mr. Madison knew, that the revulsion and the disappointment orcasioned 
by it among our citizens, would excite new clamors, and wouM break to pieces 
that formidable phalanx of men, who, during our embarrassmeeis, had learned 
to speak and think more favorably, and of course more justly, of Great Britain. »^ 

Idemj December 9, 1309. 

** If suck has been his aim (and perhaps a deeper politician does not exist) 
K lias been completely attained. His own party are again roused to a war pitch. 
^'^^ ^^J!^\f^deralists are open in thdr cenmre of Great Britain for DOING 
H^R DUTY TO HERSELF, and exercising a right we have always claimed^ 
and received ; and other federalists doubt, and are in favor of waiting to hear 
xi^f^ ^-''P^^"^^»^"5» STILL PROPOSE TO PLACE AN ILL 
RESERVED CONFIDENCE IIN^ MR MADISON." .Idem 

R 2 



190 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



On this last paragraph I shall make but one observation, to 
v;hich I request attention. It is, that according to the United- 
States Gazette, it was, in December, [U^ " the duty" of 
England " to herself," to reject an arrangement which the 
same Gazette in April stated she had repeatedly in vain 
pressed on Mr, Jefferson ! ! ! 

To facilitate a comparison of the astonishing, the never- 
enough-to-be-lamented co^itradictions of opinions that were 
promulgated on this subject, for the purpose of poisoning the 
public mind, I place in opposite columns some of the statements 
that preceded, and those that followed the rejection ol the Er- 
skine arrangement. The human mind cannot conceive any 
thing more completely inconsistent. 

"As to the revocation of the orders *' What was but a few days ago s 
rn council^ it is merely necessary to ob- doubtful point, is now settled by the 
serve, that the terms which our govern- publication of Mr. Erskine's instruc- 
ment has now accepted might have htm tions. ScfEcient information has been 
obtained at any time past; THEY received to convince all candid pergons. 
WERE ALWAYS IN OUR POW- that the rancor with which the English 
i£R." Federal Republican, iMay 3. cabinet has been pursued, and the vio- 
Let Mr. Erskine's overture for an lent abuse with whicli it has been assail- 
accommodation be viewed in whatever ed, was wncfeserDed. We do notentertain 
light it may suit democratic ingenuity a doubt when all the circumstances 
to place it, and they will find that the shall have been disclosed, tliat it will 
delusion so long kept up is effectually appear that secretary Smith actually saw 

dissipated their diaboiical schemes ErikineH instructions ; and that the 

completely frustrated. arrangement was made merely as an 

" Great Britain, in the true spirit of experiment. We feel confident that the 
vmity^ is willing to meet us. " idem. thing will be put upon this footing. — 
To the honor of England, and the rr^ If then the United Slates will be 
confusion of French spies and convict xUiimaiely injured by this act^ they nill 
fugitives from the British dominions, judge where the blame lies y 
her ministry seized the first favorable Fed. Rep, July 27, 1809. 

moment to make honorable reparation " Our cabinet, certainly not a little 
for the insult offered our flag, and to interested in strengthening the cause of 
iiPgociate a commercial treaty.'' democracy, have prevailed upon Mr. 

Idem, April 25. / Erskine to do an actwhkh has extricated 
The authority vested in Mr^Erskine their party from the most embarrassing 
to offer the terms to this government and difficult situation that it was possible 
which have been acceded to, was merely for them to be placed in, which they 
provisional, and was not to be exercised (the cabinet) knew would not be ratified : 
unless the anticipated change in owr they at a single dash rid themselves of 
political relations, on which they were all the obnoxious measures which bro't 
predicated, should take place. Mr. so mtich ridicule and disgrace upon their 
Erskine has since received positive in- party, and have contrived for a time, 
structions from his government to make to heap odium upon England. In the 
the arrangement already concluded, — next place by seeming to improve the 
These new instructions, which manifest first opportunity of an arrangement with 
the earnest desire of England to heal the England, they disproved to appearance 
differences between the two countries, the charge of animosity to England and 
are occasioned by a knowledge that the partiality for France, 
non-intercourse law had actually passed, These were the important advanta- 
placing the belligerents on a fair footing ges which Mr. Secretary Smith flattered 
of impartiality. Jn spite of all the in- iiimself would be the fruit of his cunnicgr 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



19! 



By efiTecting ao arrangement which Iif* 
knew was unauthorised on the part of 
Mr. Erskine, and would necessarily be 
rejected by the British government ; he 
calculated that the adn^inistration would 
be rendered greatly popular^ and the 
resentment of the people proportionably 
augmented against England, whenever 
the disavowal should be received. — 
Whenever it shall be made to appe?j7 
that the nation has been deceived, the 
trick will recoil upon the Secretary and 
his party with tenfold effect The 
American people cannot bear knavery 
and imposition. If they discover that 
a fraud has been practised upon them 
at home, the attempt to raise a clamor 
against others, will be found but a poor 
protection to their popularity." Idem. 

*' Those who were most violent at 
6rst in calumniating England, are now 
willing at least to suspend their decision, 
if not to admit that our orvn cabinet in 
some measure will participate in Mr. 
Erskine'3 blame." 

Fed. Rep» August S. 



trl^ues and deceptions of the French 
pasly, we are convinced that a happy 
termination will be put to our disputes 
^ith England." 

Fed. Rep. June 17. 
" It was the policy of Mr. Jefferson 
f o keep alive in the minds of our people 
g perpetual irritation against the gov- 
ernment ot Great Britain; we are happy 
to find thatMr. Madison has move liberal 
views." Fed. Rep. June 10. 

" Peace with England The war 

party and French partisans are thrown 
into complete confusion. The persever- 
ance of the Eastern States^ aided by 
the returning sense of a formidable 
tody of the people of tiie Southward, 
>'ave DRIVEN ADMINISTRATION 
FROM ITS GROUND. Since Mr. 
Jefferson has retired in disgrace into 
lorivate life, his successor has been com- 
pelled to abandon the ruinous policy un- 
der which ihecountry haj solong suffered. 
With the mxignanimity and frankness 
characteristic of a great and enlightened 
nation, England made a second attempt 
to renew the terms of amity and peace 
between the two naiions. The particu- 
lars of the correspondence between Mr. 
Erskine and the secretary of state are 
given in this day''s paper. It proves 
what we have so often repeated, and 
which has ever been stubbornly denied 
by the democrats^ that Great Britain 
was always influenced by a sincere desire 
to accommodate her unfortunate differ- 
ences ndth America. The preservation 
of tiie country has grown out of the 
efforts of the minority in congress." 

Idem, April 21. 
♦* We shall not stop to enquire wheth- 
er the spirited and vigorous measures 

of New-England their determined 

public declarations that they would not 
submitto an unnecessary and destructive 
war, have induced the administration to 
listen to rrj=^the same terms wJiich Great 
Britain hSs always been ready to offer ^ 
and to which we have uniformly contend" 
td she was sincerely disposed,''^ 

Boston Gaz. April, 1809. 

I could fill a folio volume with these frothy, elaborate and 
anti- Auierican defences of the British, and inculpations of the 
United States' government. But I feel satisfied that I have 
done enough ; and that there is none but the wilfully blind can 
deny, that no cause ever could boast of more ardent, more zeal- 
ous, or more ludustrious advocates, than the cause of Great 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Britain has experienced in Boston, New Yorlc, antl Philadef 
{)hia — and that there never was an administration pursued with 
more remorseless virulence, and vi\i\\ less semblance of justice 
than Mr. Mrdison's has been. 

After the render has carefully perused these wretched at- 
tempts to pHilir^te the folij and madness of the British oiinislry 
in the reject:- \ of s.ich an advantageous and houorai le arrange- 
ment of the dilterences between the two nations, and to ti^nsfcr 
from that ini^'istr}^ the odium they so justly deserved, to the ad- 
ministration of the Ameriean government, I beg he will atten- 
tively examine the following view of the subject, laken from 
Bell's Weekly Messenger, of which the truth and candor are en- 
titled to the highest approbation : — 

But the point of Hict is, tliat the disavo^^'al of Mr. Erskiae's act, is of a piece 
■with the general conduct of England towards America. Whenever circumstaBces 
have in any way admitted it, our tone towards America Ircs always been insulting, 
and our conduct eveiy thing but friendly. Every new hope on the Continent : 
every straw to the drowning expectations of Europe, has but aggi-avated this 
vinwortljy sentiment. — In cur prosperity we have bullied America : and T;her. 
tilings are not so well with us, we have vented our strife in injurious language and 
"unworthy conduct towards her. Whilst there were any hopes in Spain, Aaierica 
€Ould get nothing direct from u?. Bat disappointment brougiit us to our senses, 
and the negociation was renewed. The coalition war on the ContincLt has since 
kroke out, and we begin to repent of our condescensioi). 

*' In this manner has the American negociation been on and off, during somf 
years. — Our demands rising with our hopes aad prosperity, and oar moderatiui^ 
nonexistent with our disappointment*"* 



CHAPTER XXXL 

^/iipressvient of Ainericaii Seamen. Pka of James Madiscn. Of 
John QuincT/ A dams. Of JVm. Cobbett, Of W eekly Register. 

An idea is very prevalent that the impressment of our sea- 
men by the British vessels of war is a grievance of little nid^ 
ment, to which the malice entertained by our administration 
against England, has attached an importance of which it is ut- 
terly undeserving. Hundreds of thousands of our citizens have 
been duped into the belief that this item of grievance was crea- 
ted under Mr. Jeffersony at least incaleulabiy exaggerated by 
him and his successor. Never was there a more egregious error 
Never was fraud more successful in projiagatiug — never was 

* The chief part of the extracts in this chapter are taken from Things a? 
they are," written and published bv Hezekiah Niles. editor of the WeeL! - 
'.flegister. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



193 



fatuitous credulity more deceived in believing, a tale as foreign 
from the truth as Erebus is from Heaven. 

Mr. Madison has been ten thousand times cursed for his folly 
and wickedness in involving this country in war for the purpose 
of securing a few seamen, who are said to be vagabond English, 
and Irish, and Scotchmen, the scum of the earth, from the 
claims of their lawful prince. It has been asserted that few or 
none of the natives of this country are impressed — that M hen 
such mi accident takes place^ redress is easily had — and further, 
that England is, and has at all times been ready to make any 
arrangement whereby our sailors may be guarded against im- 
pressment, provided she can be secured agaiust the loss of hers. 

These assertions are utterly false. From the commencement 
of the war of the French revolution, to the late declaration of 
hostilities, this has been a constant, unceasing subject of recla- 
mation and complaint to the British government, as well under 
the administrations of General Washington and Mr. Adams, as 
under those of Mr. Jefierson and Mr. Madison. And disgrace- 
ful, and dishonorable, and infamous, would it have been to any 
of the presidents, had they been deaf lo the complaints, and 
callous to the sufferings, of the American slaves, stolen by force 
and fraud from their families, and freedom, and favored country^ 
to perish fighting the battles of their enslavers. 

" The practice has no parallel, either for atrocity or extent, 
in any thing of modern times, but the business of negro stealing 
on the coasts of unfortunate Africa."* 

I submit to the reader the following eloquent and unanswera- 
ble pleas against this nefarious practice. They so far transcend 
any thing I could myself w rite on the subject, that I shall de- 
serve thanks for sparing my own, and substituting these lucu- 
brations. 

From the instructions of James Madison, Esq. Secretary of State, to James 
Monroe, Esq, Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of London, 

** Were it allowable that British subjects should be taken out of Amer- 
ican vessels on the high seas, it might at least be required that the proc. . 
of their allegiance should lie on the British side. This obvious and just rule 
is however reversed. And every seaman on board, though going from 
an American port, sailing under an American flag, and sometimes even 
speaking an idiom proving him not to be a British subject, is presume.: 
to be such, unless proved to be an American citizen. It may be safely af- 
firmed, that this is an outrage which has no precedent, and which Great 
Britain would he among the last nations in the i:;orld to svfftr^ if offered to 
her own subjects and her own flag. 



* Weekly Regist-3?, 



194 



THE OLIVE BEANCH. 



" Great Britain has the less to say ob thp. Fubject, as it is in direct con^ 
^ radiciion to iht 'principles on which she proceeds in other cases, AVhilst fbe 
/-laiins and seizes on the high seas, her own subjects voiuntarily serving; 
in Aiiierican vessels, die has constantly given, when she could give, as a 
reason for not discharging from her service American citizens, that they 
^jad voluntarily engaged in it. Nay more, i:;hiut she imprestes her oivn 
subjectsfrojn the American service, although ihcy may have bun stilled^ and 
viarried, and naturalised in the United States, ^he constantly refuses to ri- 
lease from her^s^ American seamen pressed info it uheneier she can ^iiefar 
a reason, that they are either settled or married ivithln her dominions. Jhus 
irhen the voluntary consent vf ihe individual /arors Iter pretensions, she 
yleads the ralldily of that consent. IVhen ihe xcluntary consent cf the indi- 
ridiial stands in the way of her pretensions, if goes for noihirif;. IVhen mar- 
riage cr residence can he pleaded in her favor^ she avails her self of the plea^ 
When marriage, residence, and naturalization are against htr,no respecl 
whatever is paid to either. She takes, by force, her own subjects xoluniarily 
ur ring in our vessels. She keeps by force American ciiiztns involuntarily 
serving in her'^s. More fiagrant inconsistencies cannot be imagined,-^ 

Never smce the world was formed ^.vaE Ibere a stronger, m 
more irresistible traie of argucneiit, or colieeiion cf facts, than 
ia the preceding paragraph. Never were Cagrant injustice, 
outrage, and violence more corapktely proved, end etemalij 
shut out from the possibility of defence. 

Front a letter of J. Q. Adams^ Esq, io H. G, Otis, Esq. 

'* The hnpressed American citizens, however, upon duly autherUicaied 
proof are delivered up. Indeed I how unreasonable then were complaint I 
how eflfectual a remedy for the wrong! an Amerian vessel, bound to an 
European 4)ort, has two, three, or four native Americans, impressed by 
a British maa of war, bound to. the £ast or "VTest Indies. When the A- 
merican captain arrives at Lis port of destination, Le makes his protest, 
snd sends it to the nearest American Minister or consul. "When he re- 
turns home, he transmits the duplicate of his protest to the Secretary of 
btate. In process of time, the names of the impressed men, and of the 
• gbip into which they have been impressed, are received by the agent in 
London. He makes his demand that the men may be delivered up — the 
lords of the admiralty, after a considerable time for enquiry and advise- 
ment, return for answer, that the ship is on a foreign station, and their 
lardships can therefore lake no further steps in the matter — or, that the ship 
has been taken, and that the men have been received in exchange far 
French prisoners — or, ihat they had no protections (the impressing officers 
often having t^ken them from the men) — or, that the men were probably 
Briiish subjecls.; QT,i\i'di they had entered, and taken the bounty ; (to 
which the officers know how to reduce them) — or, ihat they have beer;, 
jnarried, or settled i>i England. In all these cases, without further cere- 
mony, their discliarge is refused. Sometimes, their lordships, in a vein 
fif humor, inform the agent that the man has been discharged as ursservice- 
able. Sometimes, in a sterner tone, they say he is an impostor. Or, par- 
haps, by way of consolation to his relativ^es and friends, they report thf>i 
■ht liadfyllen in battle^ againsl fiations in amity with his country, Soa;^- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



195 



times they coolly return that there is no such man on hoard the ship : 
and w'hat has become of him, the agonies of a wife and children in his 
native land may be leit to conjecture. When ail these and many other 
such apologies for refusal fail, the ntitive American seamen is discharged ; 
a-nd when by the charitable aid of his government he has found his way 
home, he comes to be informed, that all is as it ihculd ue—that the num- 
ber of his fetloiv-sujferers is small — that it was impossible to distinguish him 
^rom an Englishman — and that he was delivered up^ on duly aulkenticated 

Extract froju Ccbbeilh Register, 

Our ships of war, when they meet an American vessel at sea^ 
board her, and take out of her by force, any seamen whom our officers 
assert to be British subjects. There is no rule by which they are bound — 
They acl at discretion : and the consequence is, that great numbers of na- 
tive Americans have been thus impressed, and great numbers of them are now 
in our navy* The total number so held at any one time cannot, perhaps, 
be ascertained ; hut from a statement published in America U appears^ 
that Mr. Lyman ^ the late consul here^ stated the number^ about two years 
ago, at FOURTEEN THOUSAND. That many of these men have di- 
ed on board of our ships — that many have been wounded — ikal many have 
be*'n killed in action — and that many have been worn out in the service, there 
ran be no doubt. Some obtain their release through the application of the 
American consul here : and of these the sufferings have in many instanc- 
es been very great. There have been instances where men have thus 
^ot free after having been flogged through the fleet for desertion. 

But it has been asked whether we are not to take our sailors where 
we find them? To which America answers, yes; but take only your 
own; 'Wa/vC," said Mr. Lyman, ''^ your whole pound of flesh? but take, 
not a drop of bloodP She says that she wishes not to have in her ships 
any British sailors : and she is willing to give them up, whenever the 
fact of their being British sailors can be proved. Let them, she says, be 
brought before any magistrate, or any public civil authority, in any one 
of your own ports, at home or abroad ; and she is willing to abide by the 
decision. But let not men be seized in her ships upon the high seas (and 
sometimes at 'the mouths of her own rivers) where there is nobody to 
iudge between the parties, and where the British officer going on board is 
I-!o/ice ACCUSER, WITNESS, JUDGE, and CAPTOR 1'^ 

From Nihi'^ Weekly Register, vol, 3, page 303. 

If the most dignified officer in the naval serviceoi our enemy were ta 
'plunder neutral vessels of a box of cod-fish or a bate of cotton, on suspicioii, 
that it was even enemas property, it might cost him his w^hole fortune, 
with an ignominious dismissal. The law of nations allows him to send 
in the vessels for adjudication : and it becomes him to prove the fact he 
suspected. If he fail in this, he is often mulcted in heavy damages by the 
courts of law of his own country. Bui in Vie business cf man-stealing, 
he himself is judge and jury — he takes when and where he pleases, and ^5 
irresponsible for his conduct. If complaint is made, he sileaces it by the 
broad plea, ''^ that his majesty wanted men^^ — and, if the man stolen is 
restored to liberty after years of dangers and servitude, without one cent 
for his hazards and toils, there are knave^ who produce his case in eindence 
of British magnanimity 



im THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

After the reader has carefully perused the preceding argu 
ments, I request he will read and compare the sentiments of 
Mr. Pickering on the subject of impressment at two different 
periods, the first when he was secretary of State, and the sec- 
ond when he was senator of the United States. 

'* The British naval officers often " q;;j=' It is perfectly well tnown that 

impress Swedes^ DaneSy and other for Great Britain desires to obtain 

eig-ners, from the vessels of the United only her own subjects. f 

States. They have even sometimes im- The evil wecomplaiB of Q^^in'ifS 

pressed Frenchmen ! ! If there should from the impossibility (f ahvuyi dUtia- 

be time to make out the copy of a pro- giiishing the persons oj iwo nations who 

test lately received, it shall be enclosed, a few years since were one people, who 

describing the impress of a Dane exhibit the same manners, speak the 

tind a Portuguese. This surely is an same language, and possess similar fea- 

abuse easy to correct. IXJ-' They cannot tures4 

pretend an inability to distinguish these The British ships of war, agreeably 

foreigners from, their onn subjects. They to a right claimed and exercised for a2:es, 

?nay nith as much reason rob American — a right claimed and exercised during 

vessels of the property or merchandize of the whole of the administrations of 

SsvedeSy Danes ^ or Portugueses as seize ^^^ashington, of \ dams, and of Jefferson, 

and diMiin in their service the subjects cf continue to take rj;^ sojne of the British 

those nations found 07i board American seamen found on board our merchant 

'vessels. The president is extremely resseZ.s, and with them a small number 

anxious to have this business of impress of ours, from the impossibility of 

]['laced on a reasonable footing."* i»istinguishing Englishmen from cit- 
izens OF the United STATE8."j| 

I cannot allow these extracts to pass without heseeching, and 
imploring the reader to ponder well on their contents — to com- 
pare them together carefully. The history of the human race, 
from the earliest records of time, furnishes no stronger instance 
ef contradiction, or inconsistency. Mr. Pickering, ^hen his 
station as Secretary of State rendered it a duty to defend the 
lights of his country, clearly &: explicitly asserts, that the British 
Impressed Swedes, Danes, Portuguese, and even Frenchmen, 
from on board our vessels. Afterwards, to answer the purposes 
of party, he states that they impressed Americans merely through 
"the impossibility of distinguishing'' them from their own sub- 
jects ! What an awful perversion of facts ! 

* Letter from Timothy Pickering, Esq. secretary of state, to Rufus King, Esq. 
minister at the court of London, dated Oct. 26, 1796. 

f Letter from Timothy Pickering, to the hon. James Sullivan, governor 
Massachusetts, Feb. 16, 1808— page 9. 

X Ibid. 

II From the same to the same— Feb. 13, 1808, page 13. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



1&7 



CHAPTER XXXIL 

Imprcssnunt dunng the administraiion of General Washington,— 
Letter from T. Jefferson to T. Pinkney, From Mr, Jai/ to 
Lord (xrenville. From T, Pickiirlng to Rnfus King, From, 
Ihifus King to Lord Grrwille, 

Eairact of a letter from T. Jefferson^ Esq. secretary of sfate^ io Tliomas 
Pinkney, minisier jjlenipcitniiary of the United States at London, 

J}eparlmeni of State, June 11, 1T92. 

The peculiar custom in England of impressing seaisen on every sppenrance 
of war, will occa^ioDally expose oar seamen to peculiar oppressions and vexations. 
H will be erpedient that you take proper opportunities, in the mean time, of 
conferring with the minister on this sul^ject, in order to form some arrangement 
t-:tr the protection of our ?eamen on tnose occasions. V.'e entirely reject tlie mode 
"syhich was the subject of conversation between Mr. Morrris and him ; wbicli was, 
that our seamen should always carry about them certificates cf their citizenship. 
This is a cundiiion Qievtr yet submitted to by any nation ; one with which seamen 
^?ould never have the precaution to comply — the casualties cf their calling would 
expose them to the constant destruction or loss of this paper evidence : and thus the 
Uritish government nould be armfA niih legal authority io impress the rchole of our 
leamen. The simplest rule will be, that the vessel being American, shall be ev- 
idence that the seamen on board of her are such. If they apprehend that our 
\essels might thus become asylums for the fugitives of their own nation from im- 
press gangs, the number of men to be protected by a vessel may be limited hy her 
tonnage ; and one or two officers only be permitted to enter the vessel in order to 
examine the number; but nopressgang should be allowed ever to go on board anJmer- 
ican vessel, till ofler it shall be found thai there ore more than the stipuloted num- 
ler on board, nor till after the master shall kiave refused to deliver the supernu- 
meraries (to be named by himself) to the press officer who has come on board 
for that purpose ; and even then the American consul shalJ be called in. In 
order to urge a settlement of this point before a new occasion may arise, it may 
Bot l>e amiss to draw their attention to the peculiar irritation excited 07i the last 
occasion, and the difficulty of avoiding our making immediate reprisals on their 
i^eamen here. Your will be so good as to communicate to me what <?h3H pass oa 
this subject, and it may be made aa article of convention to be entered into 
either there or here.'' 

From the same io the same, 

Oct, 12, 1T92, 

I enclose you a copy of a letter from ?vlessrs. Blow and Melhaddo, niPrchant?, 
of V^irgiaia, complaining of the taking away of their saiiors, on the coast of Africa, 
hy the commander of a British armed vessel. So many insia.nces of this kind 
have happened, that it is quite necessary their government should explain theas- 
eelves on the surj 'ct. and be led to disarow and punish such conduct. I leave to 
your discretion to endeavor to obtain thi> satisf.iction by such friendly dkcussions 
as may be most likely to produce the desired effect, and secure to our commerce 
that protection against British violence, which it has never experienced from any 
other nation. No law forbids the seaman of any nation, to engage in time of 
pcice, on hoard a foreign vessel : no law authorizes such seaman to bresk his 
coolract.^ cor the armed vessels of his nation to interpose force for his rest:ue.*' 



■m THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

From the same to the sixme. 

JVov. 6, 1T92. 

I enclose >ou ROW the copy of a letter from Mr. Pintard. our coucul at 
iVTadeira, exhibiting another attempt at the practice on which I wrote to you in 
my last, made by Capt. Hargood, of the British frigate Hysena, totalve seamen 
from on board an American vessel bound to the East Indies. It is uunecessary 
to develope to you tiie inconveniences of this conduct, and the impossibiiity of 
lotting it go on / hope you will be able to make the British minisiry sensible of 
ihe necessity of 'punishing the past and preventing the future.'''* 

Extract of a note from Mr, Jay, envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- 
potentiary of ihe Uniled States at London,, to lord Grenvilley secretary 
^ foreign af['airSj daiul 

London, July^O, 1T93. 

The undersignrd finds it also to be his duty to present, that the irje^ilaritics 
before mentioned extend not only to the capture and condemnation of American 
- essels and property, and to unumal personal severities^ but (T^ even to the 
^impressment rf American cHizcns,, to serve on boardj of arm^d vessets^^ Heforbears 
io drvell on the injuries done io those unfirrtunate individuo-ls, or on the emotions 
"ivhich they nmsl naturally excite^ either in the breasts of ike nation to nhieh they 
Iclong. or of the j mi and humane cf every country. His reliance on the justice 
?.ud benevolence of his majesty, leads him to indulge a plpasinj^ expectation, tiiat 
orders will bs g^iven, that Americans so circumstanced be immediateiy liberated, 
^nd that perscns honored with his majesity's commissions do in future abstain from 
similar violences. 

It is with cordial satisfaction that the undersigned reflects on the impressions 
Vnich such an equitable and conciliatory measure would make on the people of 
the United States, and how naturally tiiey would inspire and cherish those senti- 
"ments and dispositions which never fail tcTpreserve as well as to produce respect, 
«?steem and friendship."' 

^IPjXtract from the instructions given by Timothy Pickering, Esq. secretary 
cf state, to Bufus King^ Esq, minister 'at the court of London. 

June, 8, 1796. 

fry^The lo7\g but fruitless ciiempis that hive been made io protect American 
seamen from British impresses, prove that the subject is in its nature difficult. 

The simplest rule would be, that the vessel being American, shc^ild be 
evidence that the seamen are such. But it will be an important point gained, if, 
on the high seas, our flag can protect those of whatever nation who sail under it. 
And for this, humanity, as well as interest, powerfully plead. Merchant vessels 
s^arry no more hands than their safety renders necessGry. To niVidrare any of 
ihem on the ocean, is io expose both iices and property io destruction. We have a 
jisht then to expect that the British govermnent will make no difficulty in acceding 
to this very interesting provision. And the same motives should operate with 
nearly equal force, to procure for us the like exception in till the British colonies, 
but especially in the West Indies. In the latter the consequenc-e of an impress is 
the diieniion of the vessel. By the detention., the vessel is injured or destroyed 
hy the norms, and the remnant of the crew exposed to the fatal diseases of the climate. 
Hence a longer detention ensues. The voyage becoraei unprofitable to the 
inerchant : and f];^ humanity deplores ike loss of many valuable lives. But there 
is another cogent reason for an exemption from impresses in the British colonies — = 
that THE PRACTICE WILL BE, AS IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN, SUB^ 
UECT TO MONSTROUS ABUSES : and the supreme power is so remote, that 
'IHE EVILS BECOME IRREMEDIABLE, BEFORE REDRESS CAN 
SVEN BE SOUGHT FOR. 

To gaard against abuses on the part of American citizens, every master of e 
vessel, on his arrival in any port of tbe British colonies, may be required to report 
his crew at the proper ofnce. If, afterwards, any addition be made to them by 
British suhJecUf these fsajr be taken away. Id the ports cf Great Britaia and 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. lad- 

Ireland, tiie impress of British subjects^ found on board of our vessels, must 
doubtless be admitted. But this should be controled by regulations to preveiit 
insults aud injuries, and to administer prompt relief 7vhere American dtizm-s 
{n^hick tvill assuredly happen) shall be mistaken for hritish subjects. 

There are three classes of men^ conctrning rchom there can be no difficulty. 
1. Native American citizens. 2. American citizens, nherever born, riho iver*". 

such at the definitive treaty of peace. [J^^'S. Fo^reigners, other than Briiish subjects^ 
sailing in American vessels^ and vjhose persons oughtio be as sacred, as it respecit; 
the British, as those of native citizens. The 4 th class consists of British born 
subjects, but who, or many of whom, may have become citizens subsequent to the 
treaty of peace, or who hereafter may be admitted to the rights of citizens it 
is this class alone, about which any pretence of right to impress can be made. 
With regard to these, it may be attempted to protect them, as well in time of 
war as of peace, in the foliowmg cases : First, when they shall have served 
in American vessels, public or private, for the same term in which foreigners 
rerving in British vessels would acquire the rights of British subjects, which is 
understood to be three years : or secondly, if so much cannot be obtained,) 
when those persons, originally British subjects, shall have resided five years io 
the United States, and been formally admitted to the rights of citizens, according 
to our laws. 

" It must often happen that sailors will lose their certificates : provision should 
therefore be made for the admission of other reasonable proof of their citizenship, 
fuch. as their own oaths, with those of the masters, mates, or other creditable 
witnesses. The rolls of the crews or shipping papers, may also be authenticated 
by the collectors of the customs : and then they ought to be admitted as of e<iU?l- 
validity with the individual certificates.'* 

From ihe scmt! to ike same. 

Sept, 10, lT96o 

I enclose a letter from Francis S. Taylor, deputy collector of Norfolk, re- 
specting four impressed seamen. It appears to be written with candor, and mer- 
its attention. If, as the captain of the Prevoyante [Wemyss] says, the dignity 
of the British government will not permit an enquiry on board their ships for A- 
jaerican seamen, their doom is fixed for the war : and thus THE PwIGHTS OF 
AN INDEPENDENT NATION ARE TO BE SACRIFICED TO BRITISH 
DIGNITY. Justice requires that such enquiries and examination be made; be- 
cause otherwise the liberation of our seamen will be impossible. For the British 
government, then, to make prof ession^ of respect to ihe rights of our citizens, and 
willingness to release them, and yet deny the only means of asceriaining those righiS} 
is an insulting iantalism. 

If the British governrrCent have any regard to our rights, any respect for out* 
Tiation, and place any value on our friendship, they mil even facilitate to the 
means of releasing our opppressd citizens. The subject of our impressed seamea 
makes a part of your instructions ; but the president now renews his desire that 
their relief may engage your special attention.*' 



CHAPTER XXXin. 

Impressment during ihe Adminisiraiim of Mr, Adams. LeUer- 
from Ruf lis King. From Silas Talbot. From Timothy Pick- 
ering, Instructions of Judge Marshall to Rufus King. 

I NOW proceed in chroaological order to state the views of 
mst govemmejttt upon — -the remon^trancegi of oiir public o^eeis^ 



200 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



against — and the redress afforded or refused in — the odious af- 
fair of impressment, during the administration cf Mr. Adams. 

Ibeginxvilh Rafus King, esq. whose name, from the ground 
he now lakes in polities, is a tower of strength on this siir>ject. 

From Biifus King^ Esq. io Timoihy Pickerings secreiary ofslcfe. 

London, April\3, 175T. 

The subject [cf impressment] in all Its details, has come under my observa- 
tion : and its importance, I confess, is mud) greater than I iiad supposed it. In- 
stead (if af^rd, and these in many instances equrvjcal cases, I have, since the mjntk 
cf July la made apjjlication for the discharge from By^tish rnenrfivar, of 211 
ce2men, who, stating theinselves to be AmericariS, have claimed my'interferentie . 
of this nuiiiberSG have by the admiralty been ordered to be discharged : 37 more 
have been detained as British subjects, or as American volunteers, or for want 
of proof that they are Americans : and to 7ny applicaiiunt for ike discharge of ih^j. 
remaining 148, I have receivrd no answer ; ike ships 07i board of which these sei- 
men were deiaintd, having, in many insiaiucs, sailed before an cxa?nin2tio7i rvas 
7mde, in consiqucncc fif my appliccUion^. 

" it is certain, that ?oine of tho-^e who hive apulleJ to m-^, are not Anier'caa 
citizens, BUT THE EXCEPTIONS ARE Ix%^ ^IV. OPiNlON FEW : and the 
evidence, excla-^ive of certiticales, has been soch as in most cases to satisfy me 
that THE APPLICANTS WERE REAL AMERICANS, who had been forced 
into the Ei'itifeh service ; and who nith singular constancy h.zve generally ptrsevcr- 
ed in refning pay and bounty , though in miny instances ihty have been in service 
*hjr8 than ttVJ years.'''' 

To ilrls document, I most esrnesily invite and invoke the at- 
tenlioii of tlie American nation, and the whole people of Chris- 
tendom. It atfords the most conclusive defence of the shong 
ground taken on this subject by the administration; and sets 
the seal of eternal contradiction on the assertion, so often re- 
peated, that the poor, miserable, enslaved, and by-hi s -count ry- 
iibaodoaed sailor- — the pride— the glory — the bulwark of that 
ongratefui country —-is readily surrendered when impressed bg 
mistake. Let no man ever dare again to make the assertion. It 
is not true. It never was true. 

Mr. King tells us a plain story. He applied for the emanci- 
pation of 271 American slaves, forced to fight for their enslav- 
ers. Not auite a third ivere discJiaro'sd — and mare than one tialf 

J. 'CD V 

of the jvhole number were debarred of any chance c f redress^ hy a 
plain and simple process ; the vessels, onboard of which they 
were, having many instances sailed before an examinatlo:Z 
was had in consequence of his application,^^ 

From Silas Talbot, Esq, agent for the relief of impressed seamen, io Timot'i^j 

Pickering, Escj, secretary of state, 

Kingston, July 4, 1T9T. 

** Admiral Sir Hyde having gained information, that my application to Wit: 
civil autiiority of this island, to obtain the release of such American citizcRs a*: 
were found to be detained on board his majcsty^s ships of war, had been ?tlended 
with some success, he immediately issued a general order to all captains an<.^ 
commanders of ships and vessels of war, ■directing iheni ml to obey any rvrii ^-^f 



THE OLIVE BRANCH -r. 

aaHas -^orpiiS.nor svffer cinif men to their leave ships in cons ^uence of &7iy suth ?vri^ 
Siuce the vibove uitiitioned order was issued, writs have been obtained again';i: 
Captain Elphinstone. of the Tartar frigfite, to produce three Americana, Darned 
ill tke vt-fit, before the chief juslicp ; and against Captain Foster, of the Aiblcore, 
to produce four ; and also, against Captain Otway, of the Geres frigate, to product: 
twenty Americans, is like manner before the chief justice. Ail those writs were 
served, but none of them was obeyed. Attachments against the said captains 
have been ordered by the court ; and a writ of attachment against Captain Otwaj" 
was taken out fifteen days since. But the marshal has not been able, as he says^ 
to serve it on Captain Otway : and from all that I can learn, there is not dniy 
probability that he will serve the writ j go that ihe law in this isl^ind, it seems,^ 
cannot be administered for the relief (f Amenccn citizens, 7vho are held in British 
slavery ; rr7=» many (f rckom, as they nriieto me from on hoard Captain Otn'-aif:: 
ship, HWE BEEN BROUGHT TO THE GaNGVV AY, AND WHIPPED, 
FOR WRiniVG TO THEIR AGENT TO GET THEx\l DiSCHARGEDI^^ 

^ Here again w e find what redress ihe American slave had to 
expect. He was brought to the gangway, and ignominiously 
SCOURGED for daring to try to have his case taken into the 
cognizance of the American agent for the relief of impressed 
seamen ! t ! 

From Timothy Pickeringy Esq. stcreiary of slcU^^ to 'Silas Talbct, -E^q. 

August 15, 1T9T. 

" If any naval officer shall have committed such an outrage on any American 
seamen, as to BRING THEM TO THE GANGWAY, a? you mention, or to 
inflict any tind of punishment on thera, especially for seeking opportunities to io- 
forra you of their situation, for the purpose of obtaining the just relief to whiek 
they are entitled, pray endeavor to get proofs of the fact, that I may isake ii" 
the subject of a special representation to the British government." 

FrDm Timothy Pickering. Esq. secretary of state, to Hufus King, Esq* 

Treridon, October B, 1T9T- 

Lord Grenvilie't- observations on the act of congress for the relief and pretec- 
lion of Amerifan seamen, present difficulties which demand consideration at the 
ensuing session. BvA your reasoning in your letter to his lordship of the SOth 6f 
last November, is conclusive against the British pretences to retain real Anierican 
leamen who are married in their dominions, or who have voluntarily entered oji 
board British vessels. It behoves ihe honor and f rath c^ihe British gocernment, 
io adhere io their principle cn natural allegiance wholly, or to renonnct ^ 
nMly : And an answer on this point, would have become his lordshij)'€ 
candor. 

** I consider Col. Talbot^s sgency in the West Indies to be no longer very im- 
portant. The rigid conduct of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker (who from the bepnnin*- 
bas thrown obstacles in the way) leaves but little room to get our seamec released"!. 
The opposition of the officers in general, induced Colonel Talbot to take out writ*: 
of habeas corpus at Jamaica, by which, directly or in their consequences, ^^j^ ke 
ohloMxed the discharge (f nearly fifty seamen. But Admiral Parker has for .^ome 
rime past, /or 6? tirfen his officers to pay any attention io such rh^rits : and €ol. Talbct 
informed me that some cf our seamen have been punished (or attempting to send 
letters to him to inform of their situation. 

*^ Mr. Listen assured me that the Britisli officers have ordersnot to Impre^ 
any Ameriacn seamen, and of course not to retain against their will any slreadr 
impressed : fcu< {/" (Ae.v persM^ in obstructing every channel qf inforinaiiQn 
.m$of of thHr diiztmhiv^ such erdtrs are, and will continue^ dece^tiv^J- 

S £ 



202 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

Extract of a letter from BvfvsKing, minister plerJpoieiiliary of the Unittd 

Slates, to the secretary of stale, 

London, March 15, 1T99. 

I mentioned our dissatisfaction with the continuation of the practice of taking 
■out of our ships, met on the main ocean, such of their crews as did not possess 
certificates of American citizenship ; denying, as I had often done, in formei- 
conferences, upon the same subject, any right on the part of Great Britain, upon 
which the practice could be founded j and suggestiDa; that (T7° our ships of war, 
by permission of our government, might, with equal rignt, pursue the same 
practice towards their merchautraen. 

*' That not only seamen who spoke the English language, and who were evi- 
dently English or American subjects, but also ALL DANISH, SWEDISF/. 
AND OTHER FOREIGx\^ SEAMEN, WHO COULD NOT RFXEIVF 
AMERICAN PROTECTIONS, WERE INDISCRIMINATELY TAKEN 
FROM THEIR VOLUNTARY SERVICE IN OUR NEUTRAL EMPLOY, 
and forced into the war in the naval service of Great Britain. 

That on this subject WE HAD AGAIN AND AGAIN OFFERED TO 
COiXCUR IN A COiWENTION, WHICH WE THOUGHT PRACTICA- 
BLE TO BE FORMED, AND WHICH SHOULD SETTLE THESE 
QUESTIONS IN A MA.NNER THAT WOLLD BE SATISFACTORY 
FOR ENGLAND AND SAFE FOR US. 

That to decline such a convention, and to persist in a practice which we were 
persuaded could not be vindicattd, especially to the extent it was cariied, seemed 
less equitable and moderate than we had a rigiit to expect 

"Lord Grenvilie stated no precise principle upon which he supposed this 
practice could be justified : and the conversation upon this point* like many 
others upon the same subject, ended without a prospect of satisfaction. The 
Firtnch and Spaniards, and every other nation, might pursxit the seme conduct 
as righffiilly as Great Britain doe^. With respect to foreign seamen in our 
n7nploy, this government has, if I recollect, yielded the point, though their onn 
officers coixtinxie the 'practice. We are assured all Americans shall be discharged 
ou application for that purpose, and that orders to this effect have been given to 
Uieir naval commanders ; but this is far short of satisfaction — indeed^ TO AC- 
QUIESCE IN IT, IS TO GIVE UP THE RIGHT.'* 

1 beg the reader will most carefully and atten lively peruse 
the second and third paragraphs of the preceding document. 

The second confirms the statement made by Mr. Pickering, 
"when he was secretary, that Danc^^ Swedes and oihei^ for- 
eigners were impressed out of ozir t^ess els — and utterh^ contradicts 
and disproves his recent declaration — that [C7^ the mipressment 
of our seamen arose fr&ni the difficidiy of discriminating between 
an Efiglishman and an American, What a farcical procedure 
it TvouM be, to seize by mistake upon Danes, and Swedes, and 
Portuguese, as Englishmen ! 

But the fact established by the third paragraph is still more 
important It is, that this country [17^ ''had again and again 
offered to settle these questimis in a manner that would he satisfae- 
im-yfor England and safe for the United States'^ And further, 
that "England had declined such a convention." And yet 
JMr. Pickering has confidently stated the contrary, in diree^t 
opposition to the fact^ and to his own knowledge and experi- 
ence, — 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



203 



••Oar goreranaent well know, that Great Britain is pe/y^tcily jvilling to adopz 
.any arrangtmmi that can be deviszd that will secure to her service the seumen who 
are krr own suhjecis, and at the snme iimz, exempt ours from imjyressment.'''^' 

" No nianwh't rcgirds the truth tviil question the disposition of the Bntish goz~ 
^mmeni tj ad^ipt any arrangemenl thai will secure to Great Britain the service cf 
her own subjects. ''^f 

These facts scorn the aid of a comment. The dullest and 
most Boaetian reader must be struck ^vith th-e astonishing con- 
tradiction and inconsistency they display. 

With Mr. Pickering I am almost wholly unacquainted. He 
Is far advanced in years — and has held the highest and most 
confidential offices. He has been honored with the regard and 
esteem of the party to which he belongs, of whom he is consid- 
jgred as one of the leaders. He has asserted of himself, 

^' I may claim some share of attention and credit — that share which is due to 
tlieman who defies the world to point, in tlie wliole course of a long and public 
life, at one instance of deception — at a single departure from truth.* ^| 

I call on hini and hi3 friends, to reconcile the above state- 
ments vnih the facts of the case. It will give me pleasure if he 
can, at the close of his long career, Justify himself on this point 
to his own conscience, and to his country, before whose bar I 
thus solemnly cite him. 

One other observation, and I dismiss this letter. — Mr. King 
explicitly states, and with perfect justice, that to acquiesce la 
the surrender of our searnen being a satisfaction for the injury^ 
is to admit the right of impressment, against which he most zeal- 
ously and patriotically contended. 

Extract from a report of Timothy Pickering ytsc;. stsrtiary of slate, to Con- 
gress, ^ i)6c. 9,'lT99. 

Admiral Parker paid no attention to the agent's application on behalf of ouf 
luipressed seamen ; the admiral having determined, and informed the ageat of 
the determination, that no proofs woiild b€ regarded by him, unless Fpecially 
presented by the AmericRn government through the British njinister ; r.or thei» 
but in the single case of native Americans. Under this determination there wjfl 
be detained, not only the subjects of his Britannic majesty, naturalized since the 
peace of 1783 ; but all who, bom elsewhere, T^ere then resident in, and had be- 
come citizens of the United States ; also, all foreignfrs, as Germans. Swedes, 
Danes, Poriuguesey and [iiiians, joho volurdarity serve hi the vessels of the United 
States.^ Anditis ajaci that SUCH FOREIGNERS HWE FREaUENT^ 
LY BEETJ IMPRESSED ; although their lansruiges and other circumstances 
demonstrate that THEY WERE NOT BRITISH SUBJECTS." 

Here again we have Timothy Pickering, secretary of state, 
virsiis Timoihy Pickering, senator of the United States. As 
secretary, he bears the strongest testimony on the subject of thtj 
iatitudinarian principles on which impressment is conducted. 

* Letter of the hon. Timoihy FickenDf, to his* excellency James Suliivas - 
governor of Massachusetts^, page 13,- 

r Idem, page S. " idem, pags 9i 



204 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



The subject strikes me in a new point of light. An Aoieri- 
can vessel is met at sea by a British fi'igate. — The crew v.ve 
brought trembling before, that right reverend and worshipfiU 
magistrate, the boatswain's mate. All who cannot speak plain 
English are seized ; — as^ beinz French,, Gcnnans^ Dams, Hal- 
iajiSj or Hottentots , they cannot he natives of tlie United States^ 
and are not therefore entitled te protection from our (lag. This 
scrutiny is soon over. Another then takes place. And of 
those ivlio speak plain English, he seizes as many as he supposes, 
or pretends to suppose, to he British subjects I ! ! And yet we 
have men in liigh stations who defend this practice! Would to 
Ood that every man who is an advocate for impressment, were 
himself im{)ressed and enslaved on board a British man of w ar, 
with a cat-o'-nine tails to his back, to punish his refractory spi- 
rit, in case he dared to complain t 

Extract of a teller from John Marshall, E^q. secretary of stale, to Rufas 
King, Esq. Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at London, dated 

Department of State, Sept. 20, 1800. 

" The impresr.menl cfour seamen is cn in jury of very serious magnitude, nhick 
deeply nffecis the feelings and the honor ff iht nation. 

Thi> valuable class of men is composed of natives and foreigners, who engage 
voluntarily in our service. 

' No right 1ms been asserted to irapref?s the natives of America. Yet ikey ar^ 
impressed ; they are dragged on board of British ships of rear, with evidence qf citi- 
sf^nskipin their hands, and forced by violence iher-eio strve^until conclusive testimct- 
nials of their birth can be obtained. These must most sienerallv be ^ouz-it for on 
this side of the Atlantic, rrp In the mean time, ACKNOWLEDGED VIO- 
LENCE IS PRACTISED ON A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, 
BV COMPELLING HIM TO ENG AGE AND CONTINUE IN FOREIGN 
SERVICE Although the lords of the admiraltv uniformly direct their di.-charge 
cn the production of this teytimonv ; YET .MANY MUST PERIS FI UNRE- 
LIEVED, AND ALL ARE DETAINED k CONSIDERABLE TIME, IN 
LA^VLESS AND INJURIOUS CONFINEMENT. 

" It is the duty, as well as the right, of a friendly nation, to require that meas- 
ures be taken by the British 2;overnraent to prevent the conlirjued repetition of 
such violence bv its agents. This can onlv be done bv punishing: and frownins: on 
those who perpetrate it THE MERE RELE ASEOF THE 1 XJURED, AP= 
TER A LONG COURSE OF SERVING AND SUFFERING. IS NO COM- 
- PENSATION FOR THE PAST, AND NO SECURITY FOR THE FU- 
TUE.E. It is impossible not to believe that the decisive interference of the gov- 
ernment in this respect, would prevent a practice, the continuance of which 
must inevitably produce discord between two nations, which ought to be the 
mends of each other 

*^ Those 1^e3men who were bom in a foreign country, and have been adopted 
by this, were either the subjects of Britain or some other poTrer. 

** The right to impress those who were British subjects has been asserted; and 
the ri5;ht to impref s those of every other nation has not been disclaicsed. 

" Neither the one practice nor the other can be justified. 
With the naturalization of foreigners, no other nation can interfere, further 
than the rights of that other are* affected. The rigjhts of Britain are certainly not 
affected by the naturalization of other than British subjects Consequently those 
persons, who, according to our laws, are citizens, must be so considered by BritaiPf 
ajjd every ether power not having a conEictlDg claici to theperso-ii. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



205 



- THE UNITED STATES, THEREFORE REQUIRE, POSITIVELY, 
^HKT THEIR SEAMEN WHO ARE NOT BRITISH SUBJECTS, 
UHETHER BORN IN AMERICA, OR ELSEWHERE, SHALL BE 
EXEMPT FROM IMPRESSME?a\ 

The case of British subjects, whether naturalized or not, is more questiouable; 
gi^but the right even to impress them is denied. The practice of the British 
government itself, may certainly, in a controversy with that government, be relied 
or. The privileges it claims and exercises, may certainly be ceded to others, 
rrya To deny this would be to deny the equality of nations, and to make it a 
qiiestion of power and not of right. 

If the practice of the British goveriiir.ent msy be quoted, that practice is to 
Biaintain and defend in their sea-service all these, of any nation, who have 
voUmtarily engaged in it, or who, accordhig to theh' laws, have become Britisii 
-subjects. 

Alien seamen, not British subject?, engaged in our merchant service, ought - 
to be equally exempt with citizens from impressments : we have a right to engage 
them, and have a right to, and intcre-t in, tiieii" persons, to the extent of the 
service contracted to be performed. jT/^ Britain h?.s :iq Dretex: oi right to their 
perscn^ or to their service. TO LEAR THEM, THE.V, FROM OUR 
POSSESSION, IS AT THE SAME TIME AN INSULT AND AN IN- 
JUnV. IT IS AN ACT OF VIOLENCE FOR WHICH THERE EXISTS 
JSO PALLUTIVE. 

" AVe know well that the difSculty of distinguishLig between native Americans 
-and British subject^, has been used with respect to natives, as an apology for the 
injuries complained of. It is not pretended that this apology can be extended to 
the case of foreigners ; and, with respect to natives, Vr e doubt the existence of the 
difSculty alledged. We know well that among that class of people called seamen, 
we can readily distinguish between a native American, arid a person raised to 
inanhood in Great Britain or Ireland ; and we do not perceive any reason why 
the capacity of Biaking this distiuctioa should not be possessed in the same degree 
hy one nation as by the other. 

If therefore no regulation can be formed which shall effectually secure all 
seamen on board American merchantmen, we have a right to expect from 
the justice of the British government* from i& regard for the friendship of the 
United States, and its own honor, that it will manifest the sincerity of its wishes 
to redress this offence, by punishing those who commit it. 

We hope, however, that an agreement may be entered into, satisfactory and 
beneScial to both parties. The article which appears to have been transmitted 
by my predecessor, while it satisfies this country, will probably restore to the 
naval service of Great Britain 9 greater number of seamen than will be lost by it. 
Should we even be mistaken in this calculation, yet the difference cannot be put 
in competition with the mischief which may result from the irritation ju.'tly excited 
by this practice, throughout the United States. The extent and justice of the 
I osentment it produces, may be estimated in Britain by enquiring what 
impressions would be made on them by similar conduct on the part of this gov- 
ernment. 

" Q^J^ Should we impres? from the merchant service of Britain not only Ameri- 
cans, but foreigners, and even British subject^, how long would such a course 
of injury unredressed be permitted to pass unrevenged ? How long would the 
government be content with unsuccessful remonstrance ? I believe, sir, that only 
the most prompt correction of, or compensation for, the abuse, would be admitted 
as satisfaction in such a case. 

*^ If the principles of this government forbid it to retaliate by impressments, 
there is yet another mode which might be resorted to. Vr'e might authorise our 
ships of war, though not to impress, yet to recruit saijors on board British mer- 
chantmen. Such are the inducemests to enter into our naval service, that we 
■believe even this practice would very seriously affect the navigation of Britain.-- 
How, sir, would it be received by the British nation ? 

" Is it not more advisable to delist from and to take effectual measures to prevent 
fsi acknowledged wrong, thua by perseverance is that wrong to excite agaiiiri 



208 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



themselves the well-founded resentment of America, and force our govemmea: 
into measures which may very possibly terminate in open rupture p'* 

Extract of a letter from Rufus King^ Esq. to the secretary of staie^ dated 

London, February 9,5, 1801. 

The progress vhich had been made in our negcciation with this government, 
was such as must have brought it to a speedy conclusion, had not a change taken 
iplace in the department of foreign affairs ; that the result would in the main have 
been s atisfactory, is more than 1 am authorised to say, although I fiattered 
myself with the hope that it would be so. Lord Hawksbury assures me that he 
will give to the several subjects, which have been pretty fully discussed, an early 
and impartial consideration : and I am in hope that lord St. Vincent will likewise 
be inclined to attend to our reiterated remonstrances against the impressment Qf 
our seamen, acd the vexations of our trade." 



<IHA<PTER XXXIV. 

Mr, Listen's projet of a Convention respecting Deserters. Objected 
to hy Mr. Pickerings Mr. Stoddard, Sir. Wolcott, and Mr. 
M'Henry. Rejected. 

In the year 1800, Mr. Liston, the British miaister, submitted 
to Mr. Adams, president of the United States, a projet of a treaty 
for the mutual delivery of deserters, of which I annex tiie sev- 
enth and ninth articles, being those Tvhich alone bear on this 
subject. 

7. ** It is, however, understood, that this stipulation is not to extend to author- 
ise either of the parties to demand the delivery of any sailors, subjects, or citizen?, 
belonging to the other party, who have been employed on board the vessels of 
either of the respective nations, and who have, in time of war or threatened 
hostility, voluntarily entered into the service of their own sovereign or nation, 
or have been compelled to enter therein, according to the laws and practice 
prevailing in the two countries respectively. 

9. *' It is, however, understood, that no stipulation in this additional article 
shall be construed to empower the civil or military oflScers of either of the 
contracting parties forcibly to enter into the public ships af war ; or into the forts, 
garrisons or posts of the other party 5 or to use violence to the persons of the land 
or sea ofScers of the respective nations, with a view to compel the delivery g( 
such persons as may have deserted from the naval or military service of either 
party as aforesaid." 

This projet was submitted to the heads of departments, and 
to the Attorney General, for their opinions, which I subjoin. 

From Timothy Pickering, Esq, secretary of state, to President Adams, 

February 1800. 
The secretary has the honor to lay before the president Mr. Liston's not^ 
of the 4th February, together with his projet of a treaty for the reciprocal 
delivery of deserters : rr^ which appears to the secretarv utterlv inadmif^sible; 
UNLESS IT vyOULDTUT A.N END TO lMPRESSMENfS--which Mr. 
Liston seemed to imagine — while the seventh paragraph of his projet expressly 
recognizes the right of impressing Britigh subjects, and consequently America* 
citizens as at present. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 207 

B. Slcddard, Esq. secretary of the navy, to the President, 

February 26, 1800. 

** The secretary o:' the navy is clearly of opinion, that it ifs better to have 
' n nrticle, and mf-Qt all consequences, iban not to enumerate merchant vessels on 
ic Lij2;h seas, among the things not to be forcibly entered in search of deserters,*' 

Oliver Wolcciij Esq, secreiary of the treasury, iq the Prendtnt. 

April 14, 1800. 

"The projet of a treaty proposed by the minister of his Britannic majesty, 
for the reciprocal delivery of deserters from the land and naval service, [^j='iioes 
not sufficiently provide against the impressment of American seamen, and la there" 
fore deemed inadmissibie.'" 

As a substitute for Mr. Liston's first article, Mr. Pickering 
proposed the following : 

^* It is, however understood that nothing in these stipulations shall be construed 
io empower the civil, military or naval cfFcers of either of the contracting parties, 
forcibly to enter into the territory, forts, posts, or vessels of the other party 
— or to use violence to the persons of the commander^i or the ofEcers of the forts, 
posts, or vessels of the other party, with a view to compel the delivery ef such 
persons as shall desert as aforesaid " 

This article was intended fully to secure, from impressment, 
even in our private as well as public vessels, not merely our 
own citizens, but also the subjects cf Great Britain ; in a word, 
to put an end entirely to the practice of impressment on board 
our vessels. 

Mr. Wolcott, secretary of the treasury, proposed a substitute 
for the article objected to, still more clearly and explicitly an- 
nihilating the pretensions of England to impress seamen of any 
description on b^rd our vessels. 

" It is. however understood, that nothing in the foregoing stipulations shall be 
construed to empower the civil or any other oflacers, of either party, forcibly to 
enter the forts, posts, or any other place within or under the jurisdiction of the 
otlier party ; cor to empower the naval comm?.nders or other officers of either par- 
ty forcibly to ei^ter any public or private vessels of the other party, oa 
the high seas, with a view to compel the delivery of any person whatever : on the 
contrary, it is expressly declared to be the understanding of the contracting^-por- 
ties, that the mutual restitutions of persons claimed as deserters shall only be 
jeade by the free and voluntary consent of the military officers employed in the 
land service, or the commanders of the public or private ships or vessels cf tha 
two parties, or in pursuance of the decisions of the courts, judges or otlier compe- 
tent civil officers of the two nations, in all cases arisiog within their respective ju- 
risdictions/'' 

G. WOLCOTT, 
James M^Henry, Secretary at Wur, to the President, 

Tite secretary thinks the projet of Mr Liston may be substantially accepted, 
except the 7th article, which seems to provide that the United States shall net 
demand the delivery of any sailors, although their citizens, if they have beep 
employed in British vessels, and who have, in time of war or threatened hostiii • 
ties, voluntarily entered into the British service, or have been compelled to fcater 
therein, accordins: the law and '^"aetice.preyaiiiDg ki Gr^at Britaia. Tills 



208 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



tide is v-?r7 inaccurately expressed ; for it says, *' employed or erilereJ into tiit 
service c-f their own sovereign ornation, or have been compelled to enter therein," 
S(c. If this article means, what it is apprehended it does, it is whoHy inadmisr^i- 
ble. It establishes a principle reprobated by this country. The cou:iter pro- 
iet of the secretary of state, in substance meets the secretary's approbation ; but 
it is submitted, whether the adoption of part of the draft by the secretary of the 
treasury, will not improve it. 

All whicb is respectfully submitted, 

JAMES MCHENRY. 

War departmeniy April 18, 1800. 

*' The attorney general having read and considered the letter cf the 
secretary of state, and the projet of an -article drawn by the secretary of the 
treasury, on the subject of deserters, which are proposed to be sent to the British 
minister here, expresses his entire aDprobation of liie same." 

CHARLES LEE. 

April SO, ICOO. 

CHAPTER XXXY. 

Horrors cf Impressment^ as suhniited to Congress hy Thnoihy 
Pickerings Secretary of State , 

To afford a specimen of the trea(ment of some of the impress- 
ed American seamen, whose cases it has become fashiona'>le to 
treat Mith indiiferecce, I submit extracts from authentic docu- 
ments on the subject. It will incontrovertibiy appear, that the 
liorrors of this odious and execrable business of impressment 
liave been quintupled by the odious and execrable manner in 
\vhich it has been conducted. 

Extract from the depcsiiion of EHphaht Ladd, second mate on board the 
Thomas and Sarah, of Philadelphia, and a native of Exeter, New-Hamp^ 
shire, annexed to a report to congress cf Timothy Pickering, Esq. secre- 
tary of state, 

Kingston, Jane 19, 1T99. 

Elipbalet Ladd maketh oath, that on Wednesday, the 12th inst. be came 
on shore with two seamen belonging to said ship, named John Edes and 
Israel Randol, in order to land a boat load of staves: that a press-gan^' came 
Hp and Idud hold of John Ed^^s — that one of the pres'-sanj nam<^d Moody. 
WITH \ BROAD SWORD CUT THIS DEPONENT 0.\ THE 
FOREHE\D, AND MADE A WOUND OF THREE INCHES! ! ! Tiiey 
then took deponent, together with Edes. and conducted tilem in dliFereat boats 
on board the Brunswick man of war ; that the boat on bo.ard of which Edes was, 
made the ship some little time before the deponent was in and on im dapo.ient's 
nearin;y the ship, he heard the cries of a man flogging ! I ! and on ^oin,::: up t!ie 
elde of the Brunswick, he perceived Edes, who was erring; and addressing him- 
self to the first lieutenant, a Mr Harris, saying, here i^ a niaa who can attest to 
what I have told vou. The lieutemnt then laving hold of depoMC-nt by the aria, 
said, GO ALONG ON THE QU ARTER DECK, YOU D.VMN^'^ RAS- 
CAL YOU!!! which Jepofient accojdingly did; that a'J the imp-essed men 
vrere then examined, 3iid afterwarda ordered by the lieutenant loto the waist ; 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



-ntwhen thev got Iher-, Edes pulled off his shirt, and SHOWED DEPO- 
iXENTHIS BACh', WHICH WAS BRUhSED FROM BIS SHOULDERS 
TO HIS HIPS !! ! He then informed he had just been whipped with rope,'*s ends il 
a> dcporjcnt was ^omg up the ship's sides, by the boatswain and iiis mates, by 
orders of tiie lieutenant ; that deponent reinained on board the Brunswick all 
tiiat day and tiie next night, during ivkich no surgical or medical assistance 7i'a,> 
given to ike wound he had received on his head, mr to the bruises of the said Edes^ 
who, during the night called nut several times from extreme pains^ and ihenexi 

norning was barelii able to move himself ; that between nine and ten oVlock the 
next morning, the whole of the impressed men were a^ain ordered on the quarter 
deck, and stationed, except deponeat and Edes ; that while the examination was 
":oin;z on, the captain of the Thomas and Sarah was coming on board ; but was 
prevented by the lieutenant, who ordered the centinel to keep him oii : that at 
about eleven o'clcck the captain of the Brunswick came on board, and at thtee 
:/clock deponent was discharged, but Edes retained. 

ELIFHALET LADD." 

Sworn before 

William Savage^ Justice of the peace, &c. 

Fur Iher extract from the preceding report of Timaihy Pickering y Esq. secretary 

of state, to Congress. 

Richard Carter, of th-j Pomona, of Portsmouth, impressed at the same time 
Tith Ladd and Edes, among other item^ of his deposition, swore— he was vie- 
entiv forced into a boat, and STRUCK TWICE WITH A DRAWx^^ CUT- 
LASS by one of the officers of the press gang; and t'-vo men with pistols placed 
over this deponent, who loaded their pistols in the presence, of this deponent^ and 
ihrea'.ened to blow out his brains if he aitempled to move or speak : and then they 
carried this deponent, and John Edes, one of the seamen of the ship Thomas and 
Sarah, an American citizen, whom they had also seized, on board the said ship 
f)f war, the Brunswick ; and this deponent saith, on getting on board the Brun?- 
wlck, this deponent and the said Joan Edes were ordered to go on the quarter 
dfck, where Mr. Harris, tlie erst lieutenant of the said ship, abused this depo- 
nent and said Joim Edes ; and gave them in charge to the master of said ship, 
while he went to look for the boatswain's mate ; and !%oon after returned with 
the boatswain's mate, whom he ordered to take this deponent and the said John 
Edes . and to beat them ; in obedience t© which orders, the said John Edes and 
this deponent 7vere severely beaten^ particularljj this deponent^ the said bo-iswain'' s 
nafe dnibled a r^tpc rf about three inches ar^d a half thick, and BEATING THIS 
~TK)NENT WITH GRE\T ViOIvENCE OVER THE HEAD. PAGE, 

ZCK, SHOULDERS, BACK \?;D STOMACH, UNTIL HE HAD 
TIRED HIMSELF \ ! ! cmd then he gave the samerope to 07ie of the mariners of 
the said ship Brunsnick : and he also severely beat this deponent in the same marh^ 
ntr 1 ! and this deponent sailh, he received upwards of a hundred blows I ! and 
was thereby greaily bruised, end his face cut^ and his stomach, as well internally 
as externally injured, so that this depment brought up a quantity rf blood for set- 
- rat days. Sworn before me, 

WILLIAM SAVAGE. 

To avoid prolixity, I have omitted the residue of this depa- 
sition. The depoiient was liberated bv habeas corpus. 

Annexed to this deposition is that of the physician, who at- 
tended Richard Carter, who declared, that 

From the situation in which he found the said Carte?, he verily believed he 
had been very severely beaten some days previous, his blood being very much 
cxtrarasated : and from the appearance cf the bruises, it mu?t have been d 
with a thick rope." 

I know not in v^hcit terms to pour out my abhorrence and in- 
dignation at the abominable scenes depicted in the preceding 

T 



210 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



depositions and narratives. Language fails in (he alleinpt. — 
Shame, disgrace, dishonor, and infamy, will attend the councils 
and counsellors of America, for the base submission to such 
monstrous cruelty. The outrage ought to have been met at the 
threshold. — Atonement to the sufferers ought to have been 
made at the public expense, that is, as far as such horrible inju- 
ries can be atoned for — and a demj^.nd for the re-payment of ihe 
money thus employed. If not complied Vkith, full aed com- 
plete retaliation ought to Jiavo taken plac^. 



Pearcc. Proceedings of Federal Rcpiiliicans of New-York, 



Sir — As soon as the "war appeared to me unavoidable, I thought it advisable 
?.o renew the attempt to form an arrangement witli the Briti*^h governnipril for tije 
protection of cur seamen. With this view, I had several conference?, both with 
lord Ilawkesbnry and Mr. Addington, who avowed a sincere disposition to do 
•vhatever inicht be in their power to prevent the dii^satisifactiorj on this subject, 
i hat had so frequently manifested itself during the late war: Jiith v&y condid 
professions^ /, konever, found several ohjtdhns^ in discussing the project witli the 
iirst lord of the admiralty. Lord Haw kesbury having promised to sign ary a- 
greement upon tlie subject that I should conclude with lord St. Vincent. { endeav- 
ored to qualify and remove the objections he offered to our project : and 
finally, the day before I left London, lord St. Vincent consented to the foilowin|' 
regulations — 

L No seaman or seafaring person shall, nj)on the high ssas, and nithout iht 
jurisdiction of either party ^ be demanded or taken out of any sliip or vessel be- 
longni • to the citizens or subjects of one of the parties, by the public or private 
arm(d ships or rnen -f rvtar^ belonging to or in the service of the other party ; and 
strict orders shall be given for the due observance of this engagement 

2- Each party will prohibit its citizens or subjects from clandestinely con- 
cealing or carrying away from tli€ territories or colonial possessions of the other, 
any seamen belonging to the other party. 

*' 3. These regulations shall be in force for five years, and no longer. 
" On parting with his lordship, I engaged to draw up, in the form of a conven- 
tion, and send him these articles, in the course of the evening, who premised to 
forward them, with his approbation, to lord Hawkesbury. I accordingly prepar- 
ed and sent the draft to his lordship, who sent me a letter in the course of the 
night, stating that on farther reflection he was of opinion, that the narrow sects 
should be expressly eoccepfed., they having been, as bis lordship remarked, fmme- 
morially considered to be within the dominion cf Great Britain : that with this 
correction he had sent t!i8 proposed convention to lord Hawkesbury, who, his 
lordship presumed, wou'd not sign it before he should have consulted the judge 
of the high court of admiralty, §ir William Scott. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 




From Bvfus Kingy Esq. io the secretary rf state. 



New- York, July, 1C0>. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



211 



As i had supposed, from the tenor of ray conferences with lord St. Vincent, 
that the doctriue of the mare clausura wouid not be revived against us on this 
occasion, but that England would be content with the limited jarisdict^on or do- 
mini<3n over the seas, adjacent to her territories, which is assigned by the law of 
nations to other states, 1 was not a little disappointed on receiving this coniaiuni- 
cition ^ and after weighing well the nature of the principle, and the disadvantages 
of its admission, / concluded to abandon the negotiation rather than to acquiesce in 
' {he doctnne it prop jscd to establish, 

** I regret, not to have been able to put this business on a satisfactory footing, 
l:nowiug, as I do, its very great importance to both parties But I flatter myself 
that I have not misjudged the interests of our country, i?i re/using io sanction 
a principle that inight be productive of raore extensive evils than those it was our 
(din to pr event. 

This is a most important document, and mugt never for an 
lasiant be overlooked in forming a decision on the question of 
impressment. Mr. King was iiaited with, and a leader among 
fhose men who were lately hunting down Mr. Madison, and 
preparing the way for anarchy and civil war : and the chief pre- 
tence ^Yas the stand Mr Madison made against impressment. 
Nevertheless, v;e find that he took (he same ground himself — • 
and that it is intlisputably true, that more than one half of the 
miseries of our poor, oppressed, and enslaved seamen are charge- 
able to his account. And whatever may be the maledictions 
ivhich his friends are showering down upon Mr. Madison, a 
double portion of them has been richly earned by Mr. King.— 
For it appears, that had he been so disposed, he might have 
rescued oar sailors from the horrors of slavery, every vvhere but 
on the narrow^ seas, which would have greatly abridged their 
SirSTerings, as well as our complaints against Great Britain.— 
And yet lately with a most wonderful and hideous degree of in- 
consistency, he was, as I have st^.ted, persecuting and trying to 
crush Mr. Madison for the atlempt to protect our seamen, in 
whose favor he formerly displayed such a high degree of soli- 
cit nde ! 



To evince how universal has been the indisiiiation of oiir 
mercantile citizens against the oppression of, and the cruelties 
-perpetrated upon, our seamen, I annex impressive extracts from 
documents en the subject. 

Extract from a Memorial to Congress of the inhabitants of Salem, January 

20, 1806. 

^ Your^ memorialists are sorry, that other instance's of hostile conduct have 
been manifested by Great Britain, less direct in their nature, but not le«s dero2:a- 
^r/^'J?!? sovereignty than those enumerated. THE IMPKESSM Hr?T 
Oh OuR SEAMEN, notwithstanding clear proof s of citizenship, the violatiori 
of our jurisdiction by captures at the mouths of our harbors, and insulting trea.t- 
laetit of our ships on the oceari, are subjects worthy of the serious consideration 



212 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



«f our national councils ; and will, we have no doubt, receive an early, prcjipl, 
and decisive atteutioii.'' 
Signed in behalf of the inhabitants, by their authority, 

John Hathorne, Benjamin Crowninshieid, junr. 

Joseph Sprague, Joseph White, junr. 

Jonathan Mason, Joseph Story. 

Exiradfrom a Menioiial of a gtneral meeting of merchants of Nerv-Yorl:^ Dec. 

26, im. 

" But it is not on sccount of our pecuniary los?ess alone that we complain. — 
The constancy and valor (f the seamen of the United tS/^fes are justly themes of 
patriotic exultation. From tlieir connexion with us, nt consider their cause ccs 
our cause y tkeir rights as our rights ; their interests as our interests. Our fccl- 
higs are indignant at the recital of their wrongs.'''* 

This beautiiui and sublime piece of composition, ^vhich dees 
equal iionor to the head and heart of the writer, is signed by a 
nommiltee of fort^^-nine [persons, whose names may be seen, 
page 90 of this work. Many of these gentlemen have betray- 
« d their honor. They have not redeemed the solemn pledge 
that accompanied this morceau. They have most indubitably 
done all in their power to fasten tlie horrors of impressment, 
with adamantine chains, on those illustrious men, " whose 
cause — whose rights — whose interests — they considered as their 
own cause — their own rights — their own interests." For no 
man Iveyoral the rank of an idet t, can doubt that every step ta- 
icen to crip[>Ie the goverment — which game lately played 

on a large scale — was a step towards laying the nation, tied 
neck and heels, at the feet of England, to prescribe what terms 
«he pleased, and of course to perpetuate the miseries of impress- 
ment. 

Extract from the MerAorial of the merchants of Philadelphia, to Congress^ Decem- 
ber, 1805. 

''That cur seamen shonld be exposed to the MEANEST INSULTS, AND 
MOST WANTON CPXELTIES, and the fruits of our ir.dustry and enter- 
prize, fall a prey to the profligate, cannot bat excite both feeling and indignation, 
and call loudly for the aid and protection of government." 

Some of the gentlemen wdio signed this petitien, stand in 
precisely the same situation as some of the signers of New- 
York. The observations made on these — of course apply to 
those. 

Extract from tlie Memorial of the merckanls of Baltimore, dated January 21, 

1806. 

" Your memorialists will not trespass upon your time with a recital of the va- 
rious acts by which our coasts and •^ven our ports and iiarbors have been con- 
verted into scenes of violence and depredation— and our gallant courdrymtn op- 
pressed and persecuted.'''' 

Exiractfrom a Memorial if Congress of the merchants ofNewhaven^ agreed to Feb' 

7'uary7, 1^06. 

In regard to THE 1MPRE^S7\TENT OP AMERiCAM SE VMEN, your 
memorialists feel in common nith thdrfclloro citizens, a lively indignaiimi di the 



THE OLiYE BRANTJiL 

ahuus qf pmer of ten exercised by British officers upon Jmerican ciiistm. We 
have full confidence that the governmetit of the United Stotcs ivill adopt and prcr- 
sue such measures for restraining these injurious j^roccedings as the honor and in- 
terest of the United States may require.''^ 

After the murder of Captain Pearce, eiiterlug the port of 
New-York, by Captain Whitby, of the Leander, within the 
jurisdiction of the United States, there were meetings held in 
Yarious parts of the country, to express their abhorrence of the 
outrage. Oa the 2Gth of" April, 1806, at the Tciitine Coffee 
House in New- York, there was a numerous and very respecta- 
ble meeting of federalists, who appointed Riijiis King^ Ebene- 
zer Steveiis, Oliver Wolcott, William W. Woolsey, and Will- 
lam Henderson, to draw up and report a set of resolutions for 
the occasion. In their report, which was unanimously agreed 
to, was the following phillippic against the administration for 
permitting IMPRESS IMENT, among other grievances. 

Resolved, That the suffering foreign armed ships to station themselves off 
our harbour, and there to stop, search, and capture our vessels — to IMPRESS, 
W^OUND, AND MURDER OUR CITIZENS, is a gro5s_ and criiBinnl neg- 
lect of the highest duties of govtrurnent ; and that an admiaistration which pa- 
tiently permits tke same, is not ciiiiiled to the confidence of a brave and free 
peajMe.''^ 

Resolved, That the murder cf John Pearce, one of oar fellow citizens, by a 
shot from a Brliish ship of war, at the entrance of our harbour, and within half 
a mile of the shore, while be was engaged in peaceably na^igatin^ a coasting ves- 
:e], laden witii provision? for our market, was an act that excites our detestation 
ai.d abhorrence ; end calls npju our government for the adoption of jtrompt and 
%ytgorous measures to prevent a repetition of suck rcdrJon and inhuman conducty a7id 
sv fifigrant a violation of our sovereignty,''' 

Some of nly readers may not know— but it is perfectly prop- 
er that all should know, that Captain Whitby was brought to 
trial in England, and honourably acquitted. For the murder of 
Pearce, no atonamieiit has been made. It still cries sh inie am! 
disscrace on his countrvmen. 



CHAPTER XXXVIL 
Documents on tmp'essnuni continued. 

Deposition of Isaac Clark<, 

*' i, Isaac Clark, of Salem, in the county of Essex, arr^ commonweal ih of Mas- 
sachusetts, on solemn oath declare, that I was born in the town of Randolph, in 
the county of Norfolk ; have sailed out of Saleoa aforesaid, about seven years ; 
that on the I4th cf Jane, 1809, I v/as impressed and forcibly taken from the ship 
Jane, of Norfolk, by the sailing master (his name was Car) of his majesty's ship^ 
Porcupine, Robert Elliott, commander I had a protection from the >costom- 
house in Salem, which I showed to captain Elliott : he swore that I was an Eng- 
lishman ; tore my protection to pieces before my eyes^ and threrv it overboard^ and 
ordered me to go to work , I told him 1 did not belong to his fiag, aod I w'ould 

T 2 - 



214 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



do no work under it. Ke Iben ordcrfd viy lec:s to Le fvi in xrtra^^ ( nd ' 
NEXT MORNING ORDERED TBE PIASTER AT ARMS TO T^ 
ME Oiy DECK, AND GIVE ME TWO DOZEN LASHES; after ^ccei^ 
Ing them, lie ordered him to keep me in irons, and give iiie one bibcuit and ci\ft 
pint of \yater for 2 4 hoars. After keeping Rie in this situation one week, I was 
brought on deck, and a?ked by captain Elliotts, if I would go to my duty. On 
my refasing, he ordered me to strip, tied me uv a second time, and gave me tnj 
dozen more, and kept me on the same allowance another week — then ordered me 
on deck again, asked me if I would go to work. I still persisted tliat i \vas an 
American ; and that h« had no right to command my services, and I would do 
RO work on board his ship. He told me he would punish me until I was willing 
to work ,* and gave me the third two dozen lashes, ordered a vcrif heavi; ch'iin put 
round my neck, {suck as they had used to sling the loner yard) JaHltned to a rin^ 
holtin the deck, and that no person, except the master at arm;?, should speak to 
Ttie, or give me any thing to eat or drink, but one biscuit and pint of water for 
24 hours, until 1 would go to work. I was kept in this situation for cinw weeks. 
when being exhausted by hunger and thirst, I was obliged to yield After beic"; 
on board the ship m.ore than two years and a half, and being wounded in mi ac- 
tion rvith a French frigate, I was sent to the hospital. When parlixliy recovered, 
I was sent on board the Impregnable, 90 gun ship. My wounds groning norse.^ 
1 7vas returned to the hospital, when the Anierican consul received a copy of vny 
protection from Salem, and procured ray discharge on the 29th day of April itist. 
The* e were seven impressed Americaus on beard the Foi cupine, lh"ce of w hom 
had entered." ISAAC CLARK. 

£s5ea?, 5S. Dec. 23, 1812. 
" Then Isaac Clark personally appeared, and made solemn oath tliat the facts 
in the foregoing declaration, by him made and subscribed, were true in all their 
parts — before 

JOHN PUNCH ARD,^ Justices of the Peace, 
M. TOWNSEND. S and of the quorum. 

From Com. Rodger s to the Secretary cfthe Navy. 

U. S. Frigate President, Boston, Jan. 14, 181.3. 

*^ Sir — Herewith you will receive two muster books, of his Britannic maj.^sty's 
vessels, Moselle and Sappho, foimd oq board the British packet Swallow. 

*' As the British have always denied that they detmned on board their ships of- 
war, American citizens, knowing thtm to he such, I send you the ejiclcScd, as a- 
public document of their own, to prove how ill such an assertion accords with their 
practice. 

It will appear by these two muster books that so late as August last, about 
an eighth part of the Moselle and Sappho's crews were Americans ; consequently, 
rif there is only a quarter part of that proportion on board their other vessels^ 
that they have an infinitely greater number of Americans in their service than 
any American has yet had an idea of. 

Any further comment of mine on this subject, I consider unnecessary ; as 
the docufiients speak too plain for themselves. I have the honor to be, &c. 

JNO. KODGERS. 

^* Thehon. Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy.*' 

Extract of a letter from Commodore Porter to 3L Gary, dated 

"Washington, July 13, 1815. 

*' After closing my letter of this morning, f received yours of yesterday ; and 
as the only means of procuring the infcrmation rec^uired, have consulted Com- 
modore Rodgers, who informs me that there appeared on the muster books of the 
IVIoselleand Sappho, the names of from tiiirty five to forty men, who were re- 
ported to the admiralty ofEce, as impressed American Fsamen. The places o/ 
their nativity are also noted. The comxplemcnt ef men for each of these vpssfel? 
was about 160. Vviih respect, 'dci DAVID PORTER> 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



215 



I, Beckinin Ver Plank HoiTinau, c-f the town or Poiijhkcepsle, do cert.ifj% 
r.\iat I am a lieutenant in the L'uited Stales navy ; tliat 1 was a lieutenant oi* 
hoard the Constitution in thf^ action and capture of the Java ; and v. as sent o?\ 
board that vessel ; and, after the crew were lenioved, set her on fire, and blew 
her up. 

Among the crew of the Java, THIRTEEN IMPRESSED AMERICAN 
SEAMEiN were found, three of whom had entered the British service, and wera 
left; the other ten were liberated as Americans." 

B, V. HOFFMAN. 

Poughkeepsie, April 16, 1813. 

Richard Thompson, being sworn, saith tha^ he is a native q^N/w Paltz, op- 
posite Pougiikeepsie; that he sailed from Wilmington about the tolh of April, 
is 10, on board the brig Warren, Wra. Kelly captain, for Cork. On the home- 
ward passage, in September follow in,?, he vra.s impressed and t'lken on board the 
Peaco?,k, a British sloop of Avar, and coai]\el!ed to do his duly j that ^hile on 
bonrd that vess^d, he made many unsuccessful attempts to write to his friends, to 
inform them of iiis situation. lie further siith, timt after he had heard of the 
Avar, himself and two other impressed American seamen v;ho were on board the 
Peacock, went aft to tlie captain ; claimed to be considered as American prison- 
er* of war J and refused to do duty any longer. 

We were ordered off the quarter deck, and the captain calu d for the n"ir>ster 
at arm.?, and ordered us to be put in irons. ^*^c were then kepi in irons about 
twenty-four hours, when we were taken out, brou2;ht to the g:aiiKwav, STP.IP- 
PED OF OUR CLOTHES, TIED ^IND WHIPPED. EACH ONE DOZ- 
EN AND A HALF LASHES, AND PL-T TO DCTV. 

He furtlu:r saith, that he was kept on board the Peacock, and did duty till 
the action with the Hornet. After the Hornet hoisted American colours, he and 
tiie other impressed Americans again went to the captain of the Peacock, asked 
to be sent below ; said it was an American shdp ; and that they did not wish to 
fight a!3;ainrt their countiy. The captain ordered us to our quarters; called 
midshipman Stone to do his duty ; and if we did not do our duty, TO BLOW 
OUR BRAINS OUT ; *' aye, aye !" was answered by Stone, who then held a 
pistol at my breasfj and ordered us to our places. We liien continued at our pla- 
ces. an:l were compelled to fisht till the Peacock struck j and we were I'berated 
ufier about. two yean and eight months.'* 

his 

KICHARD X THOxMPSON. 
mark. 

Pouglikeepsie, Aprli 17, 18 13. 

Read over end dgned) JOSEPH HARRIS, 
in presence ^ \ JOHN S. FRIAP»-. 

Extract from the log book of an o^^cer on hoarjl his majesty^s skip Guer- 
riere, in the action with ike Consiitulion, 

" The Guerriere was a frigate of 1080 tons burden, taken from the French in 
1806 ; and had 302 men and boys belonging to her. There 7vere ten American 
seamen on boards who had belonged to her for some years. — But as the declara- 
tion of war against Great Britain was not known when she sailed, there had beeri 
110 opportunity of discharging them ; and captain Dacres considering it as unjust 
to compel a native of the United States to fight against his countrymen, granted 
them permission to quit their quarters and go below." 

Captaia Dacres, in his address to the court martial by which 
he was tried, states this fact in the foiiowino: terms : 

What considerably weakened my qnariers, 7ms permitting the Americans be- 
lon:^ing to the ship, to quit their quarters on the enemy hoisting the colourg of that^ 
iiatian>, whichj though it deprived me of the men, ! thought ifwas mj duty.'> 



aiG THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

Boslcn, Feb, 6, jglS. 

Died at Eotton, on the 3d instant, on board the frigate President, Godfrej 
Hyer, seajraa^ aged 47. The deceased was a native of Rhode-Island, and was 
one of the nupjeroiis instacces ofimpressmeot, which have been the cRu»e of com- 
i'laint aga.iast the Engiisb. He was taken on board an American njerchant ship, 
and though he never voluntarily entered their service, he was detained from his 
xcuntry and his friends fourtetn years, during which time he was present at seven- 
teen engagements, and gahied the reputation of a good seaman and a brave 
man. 

'* He at length found means to escape j and on his return to the United State?, 
he immediately shipped on board the President, where he continued uati) his 
decease — his conduct rec( iving the marked oipprobation of his commander and" 
ihe other officers of the frigate. He was interred on ThOrsday last at Charles- 
town — his funeral was attended by a lieutenant, eight midshipmen, ail the petty 
officers, and fifty seamen of the ship : and the cei emonies were perfcimcd by the 
thaplain in a manner highly solemn and impressive." 

Fran the Boston Patriot . 

'''My brother, John Cand, ofWoolwich in t-ie District of Maine, was prest on boarc 
his majesty's frigate Macedonian, on the 10th of June, 1810, from tiie siiip Moui 
Hope, of Wiscasset, and was kille * on bonrd the Macedonian, in the battle witii 
the United Statt^s, Commodore D-catur A disconsolate wife and child are in 
mourning and in sorrow, for the loss of a husband and parent, on whom they were 
dependant," JOSEPH CAND. 

The follo^ving narrative of an impressed American, T\ill 
show not only the disgraceful manner in vvhich American 
^ilors have been forcibly dragged into a foreign service, but 
the treatment they receive in consequence of refusing io fight 
against their country. 

" I, John Nichols, a native of Durham, state of Massachusetts, relate and say, 
that I sailed from Portland in the ship Franklin, commanded by James Mark* 
tis chief mate, bound to Liverpool, where we arrived the seventh day of Februa- 
ry, 1809. The same day J was taken by a press gang, coming from my boarding 
house to the ship, and carried by them to the rendezvous, Cooper's Row, and 
iJecained one night. The next morning I gave the lieutenant my protection, and 
at the same time stated to them I was chief mate of the ship : also captain Marks 
and Mr. Porter, supercargo came and were refused admittance. 

*' I then asked the lieutenant for my protection : he answered, I mil give it 
to you rviih a hell to it snd immediately tore it up before myfa<:€, and sent me 
dm board the guard sliip Princess, where I remained one week, and was then sent 
round to Plym.outh on board the Salvador guard ship : remained there one 
month, after which 1 was drafted on board the Aboukir 74, where I remained 
three years and fourteen days. 

*' When the war broke out, 1 determined to give my^elf up a prisoner of war, 
"et the consequence be what it would. Consequently on the 28th of October, I 
went to the captain end gave myself up as a prisocer of war, and refused to do 
any more duty Then he told me I was an Englishman, and if I would not do 
my duty, he would flog me ; and ordered me in irons, and kept n;e in iron? 2i 
liours, after which I was taken to the gangway, and received one dozen with ihe 
iXit on my bare hack, 

" The captain then asked me if I would go to duty. I told him no : J would 
sooner die first. He then put me in irons again for 24 hours, and once more 
brought me to the gangrvay^ and received as before with the same questions, and 
answer as preceded ; and ihe same was repeated four days successively, and / re- 
sdved four dosen on my naked hark. 

After the fourth day I was a prisoner at large. The 2fith day of Decemlier 
ras sQjat to prigOD without xny clothes, they bein» refused me by the captalis 



THE OLIVE BEANCK. 



21? 



'-.ftfT abusln«;me in the most insulting manner : and all I received for iny servi- 
tude was laurteeii pounds. During impressment, f have used my best ea- 
»:ieavours to escape." JOHN NICHOLS. 

JVitncss^ Jeduthan Upton 

From the Salem Regisier, July, 1813. 

Captain Upton has furnished us with a }ist of V2'6 American seamen, who had 
oeen impressed on board British ships of war, and delivered up as prisoners of 
vBr, vrith the places of tlieir nativity, the sliips they were discharged from, the 
time they have served, ana the number of Americans left on board the different 
'hips at the time of their discharge. These were onboard one prison ship, the 
^lan Antonia. Besides these, there were on board the Chatham prison ^hip, i20 
menn ho have betn delivered up i7i shnilnr circumstances. . Pvlany of these poor 
'idlows had been detained more than I9 years, and about 40 of the 128 on board 
".be San ADtooio belong to this state." 

To the Editors of the National Intelligencer, 

In ihe month of February, 1797, 1 belonged to the ship Fidelity, captain 
Charles Weem*, lying in the harbour of St. Pierre's. Martinique. About one 
o'clock Sunday morning 1 was awaited by a noise on the deck, and on going up, 
found the ship in possession of a press gang In a few minutes all hands were 
forced o-?t, and ornered into their boat, and in a heavy shower of rain conveyed 
v;.n board the Ceres frigate. \Ve were ordered on the gun deck until day light, 
by which time a6oii^80 Amtricans were collected, 

*' Soon after sunrise, the ship's crew were ordered into the cabin to be over- 
hauled. Each was questioned as to his name, &c. when I was called on for my 
place of birth, and answered Nenxasile^ Delmvare. The captain aftected nott* 
Lear the last : hut said, * a^e, Ncn^ tstle ; k<i\<i a collier ^ the very man. i war- 
rgai hiiii a sailor Send him down to the doctor." Upon which a petty officer, 
v,'hoia T recognised as one of the press gang, made answer, sir, / know this /el- 
Ion. He is a sckoolmaie of mine., and hiu name is Kelly. Me was hern in Bel- 
fast. And., Tom, you know rv til enough so donH ihamyankee any more."^"* *" I 
thought," say.«5 the captain, he was a countryman of my own ; [|;jPbut an Irish- 
man'.': aii one — take him away." 

Tlie next was a Prussian, who had shipped in Hamburgh, as a carpenter of 
the Fidelity in September. 1798 — He affected, when questioned, not to under- 
stand English, but answered in Dutch Upon which the captain laughed, and 
said, " This is no yankee. Send him down, and let the quarter-master put him in 
ike mess with the other Dutchmen ; they rdll uvderatand him. and the boatswain 
imll learn him to talk English,^'' He was accordingly kept. 

1 was afterwards di'^charged by an order from Admiral Harvey, on the ap- 
plication of Mr. Craig, at that time American agent or vice-consul" I furth^ 
observed that fr-j^ fall one t-.iird of the crew were impressed Americans," 

JOHN DAYiS, of Abel. 

Navy Yard, Oct. 1£, 1813. 

Ccpy of a letter from Commodore 'Decatur to ike secretary of the navy, 
U. S.^hip United States, Neiv-Lsndcn^ March 18, 1B14. 

Sir — I have the honor to forw ard to you enclosed, a despatch received by me 
from captain Capel, the commanding officpr of the British squadron before thi.? 
port, written in reply to an application of mine, for tlie release of an American 
beaman, detained against his will on board the frigate Statira. " 

Hiram Thayer, born in the town of Greenwich, in the Commonwealth of 
Massschusetts, was impressed into the naval service x>i Great Britain, in the 
month of August, 1803, and detained ever since. 

" About six years ago, when the Statira was put in commission, he was trans- 
ferred to her ; and has been constantly on board her to this day. 

1 am informed, and in fact it was stated by captaiu Stickpole to lieutenant 
Hamilton, v7ho was charged with the fiag. thr,t the late general Lyman, our ccji- 



^iS THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

4 

sij] at London, made application to tlie lords commissioners for the disciiarge or 
Thnyer : bat they were r.ot satisfied with the evidence of his nativity. 

John Thayer, the father of Hiram, assures me that the certiScate of the se- 
lectmen, the town clerk, and the minister of Greenwich, v.'ere forwarded some 
lime ago to Mr. Mitcliell, the resident agent for American prisoners cf war at 
Halifax ; but does not Inow why he was not released then. 

'* The son has written to his father, and informed iiim that on representing h:.s 
case to c?i,ptain Stackpole, he told him [T^'* if thev fell in Avith an American 
man of war, and he did not do his dutv, HE SHOULD BE TIED TO THE 
MAST, AND SHOT AT LIKE A DOG " 

On Monday the 1 4th inst. John Thayer requested me to allow him a flag, to 
go off to the enemy, and ask for the release of his son. This I granted at once, 
and addressed a note to captain Capel, stating that I felt per.m^ded tliat the c p- 
} lication of the fattier, furnished as he was with conclusive evidence of the nativi- 
ly and identity of the son, would induce an immediate order for his dischar*:;e. 

The reply is enclosed. The son descried his father at a distance in the 
boat, and told the lieutenant of the Statira that it was his father ; and I under- 
stand the feelings manifested by the old man, on receiving the hand of liis soc, 
proved beyond all other evidence, the property he hud in him There was not 
a doubt left on the mind of a shigle British officer, of Hiram Tliaycr's being au 
American citizen \nd yet he is detained, not as a prisoner of war. but CO?vl- 
PELLED, UNDER THE MOST CRUEL THRE ATS, TO SERVE THE 
ENEMIES OF HIS COUNTRY. 

Thayer has so recommended liimself by his sobriety, industry, and seaman- 
frliip, as to be appointed a boatswain's mate, and is now serving in that capacity 
in tiie Statira : and he says there is due to him from tiie British government a- 
hoxit two hundred and fifty pound'; ^-terliog He has also assured iiis fatiier that 
he has always refused to receive any bounty or advance, lest he might afford 
£om# pretext foi- denying him his discharge whenever a proper application should 
be made for it I am, sir, with the highest consideration, your most obedient 
humble servant.^' 

STEPHEN DECATUR. 

Extract from captain CapeVs letler, enclosed. 
On board his B, Jl. ship La Hogue, off N. London, March 14, 1814. 

Sir — I regret that it is not in my power to comply with your request in or^ 
dering the son of Mr. John Tiiayer to' be discharged from his majesty's ship Sta- 
lira But I will forward your application to the commander in chief, by the 
earliest opportunitv, and I have no doubt lie will order his immediate discharge.'" 
' ] am, &c. THOM AS CAPEL, Captain, &c. 

Extract of a letter f rora Commodore Decatur to ike, Secretary of the Navy, 

Neio-London, May IT, 1814. 

The enclosed, No. 2. is the copy of a note 1 addressed to captain Capel of 
his B. M. ship La Ro^ue, on the subject of Barnard O'Brien, a nslivf;_citizen of 
x\\e United States, in the boat that bore the flag of truce to the La Hogue, ti.e 
father of the roan in question went 

*^ Captain Capel would not permit him to see his son. * He directed my cfFiCer 
to inform me tlidt he would answer my despatch the next day, since when I liave 
not heard from him." 

Letter to Captain Capel. 

*' Sir— At the solicitation of Mr. Barnard O'Brien, whose son is now cn board 
his Britannic M ijostv's ship La Hogue under your command. I have granted a 
flag of truce, coiidnoted by lieutenant Hamilton, with permission for Mr. O'Brien 
to attend it. His object is to effect the liberation of his son, a native citizeu of 
the United States. He bears vvit'i liira a copy of the record of the totv^ cf Gro- 
top. in the state of Connecticut, tigiied by the town clerk mid select men, as also 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Ti rertiocate from a number of respectable meu in Groton, proving his nativity.—. 
'V'rih tliese document* 1 cannot doubt that he will effect ihe purpose of his vjsit 

(Signed) STEPHEN DECATL^R. 

i* Sir Wet! e undersigned take the liberty to solicit your assistance in behalf 

'■A Ml'. O'Biien, in obtaining his son's release from the British ship La Hogue ofF 
,\ew-[iOtidon i . . i. 

** We are well acquainted with the young man, and know n;m to be an Anier- 
can born citizen. Hi" letter to his fatber, dot'-d on board the La Kogue, the 
2Uh of March, is sufficient prooi of his being on board (which letter will be shewn 
vou.) If vou can give any a siitancein obtaining his release, either by letting 
Mr. 'o'Bri'en go to the ship by a fiag of truce^ or in any otr.er way, it will be 
considered a particular favor conferred on, sir, your most obedient servants." 

Gerard Galley, Geo. A. Suilemau, 

jVatli. Kimball, Ro. S. Avery, 

Jos. Tuttle, Ernstus T. Smith. 

P. 3. The young man's name is Barnard O'Brien, son of Barnard O'Brien, and 
•lis wife Elizabeth O'Brien. He was born in tlie town of Proton, January 29th^ 

Hxtrad from the records cf ihe ioun of Grolcn. 

A true copy, certified per Amos A. Niks, Toivn Clerk, 

I certify that Amos A. Niles is town clerk for Groton, and that I believe the 
ibove certifcate to be a true and correct record of Barnard O'Brien's birth. — 1 
Xo also certify that I have known the said Barnard O'Brien from his youth. 
Daif d G'-o/of., April T, 181A. 

NOVES BARBER, Selectman for Groton, 



CHAPTER XXXVIIL 

Subject of Impressment concluded, 

I HAVE now, as nearly in chronological order as possible, 
brought this odious, this detestable subject, to the last act of the 
drama. 

Some of the actors who stood oa high ground in the open- 
ing of the piece, sink far below par in this act. They stand 
in conspicuous stations, and possess great influence on our des- 
tinies and those of our posterity. I regard it therefore as an 
imuerious duty to canvass their conduct fully and completeiy^, 
and to cite them to the bar of the public, which I thus do in 
the most solemn manner. 

Two of the gentlemen to whom T refer, are Timothy Pick- 
ering and Rufus King, Esqrs. whose opinions and conduct oa 
this important topic, have been, at different periods, in as di- 
rect hostility to each other, as day and night — truth and false- 
hood. 

The reader has seen how laudably, how zealously, how pat- 
iioticaliy both these gentlemen on the subject of impressment, 
formerly contended for and defended the rights of their coantr7 



220 



^-HE OLIVE BRANCH. 



• — as well as opposed asd struggled against the exorbitant ami 
inadniissible claims ot England. 

They were lately nnited with the Otises, the Blakes, the 
Haasoiis, and the AV'ebsters, who appeared determined to put 
down" — yes, reader, " put rown" is the word — it i^ strong, 
signincant, and \»neqaivocal^ — I say, to put down the admims- 
Iration '' for strenuously insisting on those rights, — for attempt- 
ing to shield the seaman from the iron grasi» of his enslaver. 

This is a clear case. I state it in brief. Either Messrs. 
Pickering and King were txtrav.igant in their demands former- 
ly, and endangered the peace of tlieir country hy preferring 
exorbitant and unjust claims on a nation, tlie hulwark cf cur 
hciy religion^'' — '^^ struggling for her soJvcdion^ — and figkwtg 
the bailies of Christendom agcmist Aniichrist and hishcsC* — or 
they were faithless to that country of late, and were using their 
best endeavors, for Ikctioas purposes, to defeat her in the effort 
to procure simple justice. There is no other alternative. Let 
them choose for 'themselves. Let the public ratify or reject 
the choice. I merely state the case. 

Never was there a more striking or revolliug instance of \h% 
deleterious spirit of Jaction — and of its pov> er to deaden all the 
finer and more honourable feelings of human nature, than this 
question exhibits. It is disgraceful and humiliating to the hu- 
man specie's. Kigh-minded Amer'can merchants — possessed 
of immense fortunes — -enjoying in profusion ail the iuxuiies and 
delicacies this world affords — and owing all these manifold 
blessings to the labours, the skill, and the industry of our sail- 
ors — but ungratefully regar*!liess of the agents by Mhom they 
procure them, and blinded by ] arty spirit, regard with cahn 
and stone-hearted apathy the miseries of impressment. They 
are not merely indiuerent to the sufferings of the unfortunate 
seamen, " fmrlGined hy men-siealers^''^ fmm all their humble bles- 
sings, and dragging out a miserable existence in slavery of the 
Hiost galling kind, with a rope's end ready to punish them for 
murmuring out their sorrov* s. No. They are not, I repeat, 
merely indifferent. They throw theroselves into the scale of 
their enemies. They deride the idea of struggling for the se- 
curity of a few^ sailo)^, w hom, in the face of heaven and earth, 
they falsely call vagabonds from England, Ireland^ and Scot- 
land, whom our government is w^ickediy protecting at the haz- 
ard of the ruin of their country ! Almighty father ! To what 
an ebb is man capable of descending ! Let us suppose for a 
moment that the illustrious Hull, Jones, Pem^, Porter, Decatur. 
M'Donough, or any other of that constellation of heroes, who 
have bound their countrj^'s brows with a wreath ot imperisha- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 221 

h\e glory, had been pressed by a Cockburn, their proud spirits 
subjected to his tender mercies, and crushed by the galling 
Ghain and the rope's emi ! What a scene for a painter --what 
a subject for conteinplation — vdrdt a never-?;ying disgrace to 
those whose councils would persuade the nation to submit to 
such degradation ! 

There is one strong and striking point of view in which the 
subject of impressment may be considered, and which really 
renders the tame acquiescence in it, which is now contended 
for, pregnant with awful results. [17^ Etv^land has impressed 
frcm our ships^ Danes^ Swedes^ and Italians, as well as native 
Americans. WE HAVE SUBMITTED TO IT. ^ And 
Mr, Pickering ^ Mr. Ki?ig, Qovernor Strongs H. G. Oiis, &c. 
plead in favor of submission. It this be just, what right, I de- 
maud, have we to prevent all belligerents whatever, and at all 
times, from copying the example ? [TT^ Suppose France, S[)ain, 
and Italy, at war. Are not the cruisers of each nation justi- 
fied in searching our vessels for the subjects of the powers to 
which they respectively belong, and as fuliy entitled [^to 
enslave the Danes, Forluguese, Swedes^ and Englishmen on hoard, 
QC/" as the British cruisers are to enslave Frenchmen, Spaniards, 
Danes, ayid PoHuguese ? This is a horrible viev/ of the subject, 
and curdles the blood in ray veins. There is no Ca Iculating 
the extent or the enormity of the evil. 

I must resume this topic. It is too important to be dismiss- 
ed in a single paragraph. It deserves volumes. Would to 
Heaven an abler pen were engaged in the discussion. 

That British cruisers have been in the constant habit of im- 
pressing, without any scruple, and that they regard it as their 
right to impress, Danes, Portuguese, Frenchmen, Italians, and 
all other foreigners found on board our vessels, is true, or Tim- 
othy Pickering, Rufus King, and Judge Marshall, have disgrac- 
ed and dishonoured themselves by asserting most awful fahe- 
lioods. To their evidence on the subject, which is detailed a- 
bove^ I refer the reader. 

If Great Britain has a right to impress Frenchmen, or Span- 
iards, or Dutchmen, on board our vessels, France, Spain, and 
Holland, have an equal right to impress Englishmen. Nothing 
can be more clear. Let us proceed. 

The British captains assert that they find it difficult or im- 
possible to discriminate between Englishmen and Americans, 
It must be far more difficult for French captains. And they 
will be still more excusable for any mistakes— for enslaving 
Americans instead of Englishmen. What a frightful fate has 
faction prepared for our ill-starred sea-faring citizens 1 

U 



222 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



I have staled that Messrs. Pickering, King, Strong, 6ic, 
contend for submission to impressment." This requires ex- 
planation. They do not, it is trire, in ivords, contend for ini- 
pregsment. But this was the inevitable result of iheir late 
course of proceedings ; for as I have already stated, and beg 
to repeat, they labored most indefatigably to destroy the pre- 
sent administration, principally for the stand made to put an 
<*nd to impressment; and the consequence of the violent oppo- 
sition made to iha government on the sulject, has been to 
oblige it to postpone the discussion of that important question. 

A committee of the legislature of Massachusetts was ap- 
pointed, at a late session, to enquire into the affair of impress- 
jncnt. The object of the appointment was to damn the ch'ir- 
acterof the administration, by dim-inishing the enormity of ihis 
iugh-handed offence, against w hich the Leviiical law pronounc- 
ed sentence of death ; — 

He that stcaleth a man — and selleih him — cr if he le found 
in his hand, he shall he put to dccdhP 

It is painful to state— but it is my duty to state to the w orld 
—that this committee by no means did Justice to the subject. — 
They acted with most palpable {lartiality. They reportetl— 
wonderful to tell — impossible to believe — that at the commence- 
rnent of the w ar, the number of impressed Americans belonging 
to the great commercial state of Massachusetts, on board Brit- 
Ish vessels of war, was only eleven !! — Yes — reader ; — it 
is really eleven — I have read it six times over, to convince my- 
self that I was not mistaken. But it is absolutely true, that a 
committee of the legislature of Massachusetts did report to tliat 
tjcdv, that at the commencement of the war, HT^ THERE 
WERE BUT ELEVEN'' IMPRESSED MASSACHU- 
SETTS SAILORS on beard the vessels of his Britannic ma- 
jesty. 

Now, reader, let me request you to consult the preceding 
documents carefully— and observe 

1. That there were [rp ten Americans on heard the Gnerncre, 
at the time of her engagement with the Constinition. This h 
established by the log book of one of her officers.f 

2. That [17= there ivcre thirteen Americans on hoard the Java,^ 
when she was captured by Bainbridge.]! 

3. That there w ere on board the Moselle and Sappho, as 

* Road to Ruin, No. IV. f See page 2U. t See lieutenant HofFman-s certifi- 
^te, page 'il5. 

II It would be unfair and uncandid not to state, that Commodore Bainhndgt 
deposed on the 20th of February, 1813, before a committee of the Hou<e of Kep 
resentatives of the state of Massachusetts, thattliere was but one impressed A- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 223 

sppeai'3 by the muster-books of those vessels, at least ikidy five 
impressed Americans,"^ 

4. That these plain facts stand on such ground as neither 
Timothy Pickerinsc, Rufus King, Governor Strong, George 
Cabot, Harrison Gray Otis, Daniel Webster, or A. C. Hanson 
%vill dare to dispute. I hereby publicly challenge them to a 
denial. 

5. That I have thus clearly and indisputably established, 
that on board of four vessels there were 10, and 13, and 35 A- 
nierican slaves, being DJ^ an average of fourteen to 

EACH. 

6. That there are about 530 British vessels coastaiitly iu 
commission. 

7. That an average of fourteen amounts to 7000 on board 
the British fleet. 

8. That this statement corresponds pretty exactly viiilx the 
records of the secretary of state's office. 

And then, reader, decide what judgment must be passed on 
the committee when they gravely state that there were on 
bpard the British vessels of war only eleven natives of Massa- 
chusettsl!! It makes me sick to reflect on such obliquiiy of 
mind, and such monstrous perversion of fact^ 

It is, however, true, that this committeey though the world 
is grossly deceived by the form of expression in the report, 
have a salvo to prevent establishing against them the charge of 
falsehood. They state that these are the results " cts far as 
thdr enquiries ivent,'^'* But this saving clause escapes the mass 
of readers. They fasten on the strong allegation, that " the 
administration went to war for impressed seamen ; and that 
there were only eleven natives of Massachusetts impressed,'''' — 
All the rest escapes notice. 

" As far as their enquiries tvsnt^ is a very equivocal express- 
ion. They may have stopped at the threshold— or they may 
have gone half way — or they may have gone through the busi- 
ness completely. That their enquiries did not go very far is 
however pretty certain. 

The words " American slaves,''^ will startle some delicate ears; 

Hierican on board the Java, when he captured her. This statement he qualified 
in a subsequent commijmcatioa, and, as far as I understand the latter, ad-uifs that 
t here were 2 more. But If we wholly omit the Java, in consequence of the stupend' 
ous contradiction between the certificate of lieutenant Van Hoffman and the dep- 
o^iitioQ of Commodore Bainbridge, it will not materially affect the above calcula- 
tion. There will remain about 45 impressed American sesmen o.a board ihim 
British men of war. 

.^ee Commodore Porter's letter, page 214,- i 



224 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



This strong expression is nevertheless correct.* When an 
Algerine corsair attacks one of our vessels, and seizes it and 
the crew, UT^ the latter are justly regarded as slaves. [Tr 
their case is far better than that of the Americans impressed by 
British cruisers. The Aigerine slaves work for task-masters. 
So do the British slaves. The Aigerine slaves are flogged if 
they refi^se " to do their duty." So are the British. The Al- 
j^eriiie slaves have but poor fare. So have the British. Thus 
far they are on a [>arallei. But here the parallel ceases. The 
Aigerine slave is never forced to jeopardize his life in heittlc — 

he is never forced to point a gun tluit may slaughter his 
counirymen. [tj^ But this the British slave must do, or ''jce 
TIED TO THE WAST AND SHOT AT LIKE A DOG!!!"! 
Is he not then the most miserable of slaves ? 

Wlien the preceding chapter was written, I had not seen the 
Report of tlie Committee of the House of Representatives of 
3Iassachus{:tts, to which I have referred. I own a set of the 
Examiner, published by Bartnt Gardenier, of New-York, con- 
(Oiuingthe Road to Ruin, ascribed to Jno. Lowell, which quotes 
1 his report, and from which alone I know of its contents, or even 
i)f its existence. — 1 subjoin Mr. Lowell's quotations — 

I find from indisuutable documents furnished bv the Rev. 
Air. Taggart, member of Congress from this state, that the 
vliofe number of American seamen said to be detained at the 
reglDHing of the war, on board British vessels, did not exceed 
th^'e hundred. 

I find by the investigation of a Committee of our own 
House of Representatives, that the number belonging to this 
state, so detained, did not exceed, as far as their enquiries went ^ 
eleven 7nen,''''\ 

On the 41h inst. [July 1815,] I received the Report itself 
from Boston : and i should ill deserve the confidence that has 
been reposed in my work, did T not avail myself of the op})or- 
tunity thus afforded me to lay an abstract of some of its docu- 
ments before the reader. 

Extract f rom the deposilicn of Jckn Eldrtdge^ 

*• I reside in Yarmouth in the county of Barnstable. I ii3ve been the master 
of a vessel about seventeen years, within the last twenty-four years : and bave 
had on board my vessels from seven to sixteen men ; on an av»^rage about eight 

The ide?i which is dilated on in this paragraph must have been suggested by 
a perusal of the Weekly R,egister. Vol. III. page 349.^ Of this I was not aware 
irhen T wrote it 1 have recently made the discovery in the examination of that 
invaluable work. 

f vSee Commodore Decatur's letter, page 218. 

\ Road to Ruin, No* 4, from the Boston Cendnel,— See Examiner, vol. I. p. 107 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



225 



f>rmne. About the year 1803, while I was laying at Trinidad, in the sioop 
Stork, one of my men, wliiie oq shore, had quitted hi-j boat, and was taken up by 
the press-gang. His name was ^^iliiara Boynton, aad lie was, as he told me, an 
American. The next day I was informed by the officer of the press-gang, that 
the man vras taken, and immpdiately upon my application on board tlie ship 
where he was placed, he was returned to me, with some money he bad about hii:n 
He had left ids protection on board the vessel at the time when he was taten, 

*' Id 1810, while I was at Martinique, a Portuguese boy named Joseph Fnay, 
belonging to my vessel, was impressed from the vessel ; he was detained two 
days, bat upon my application he was discharged ; he had no protection, nor any 
indenture of apprenticeship ; he was servant to my mate. 

Extract from the deposition of William Farsons> 

I reside in Boston, and have been engaged in commerce and oavigation about 
thirty years. 1 have employed in my vessels, annuaily, upon an averao;e, about 
fifty seamen, until the time of the embargo. / /lave no recollection of cay of my 
utaijim bein^ impresstdfor irfi last twenty ycarSr exxept in one insic.nce.^'' 

Extract f rom th e deposition of Caleb Loving, 

{ reside in Boston. I have been engaged m commerce and navigation be-- 
tween eighteen and nineteen years, i have employed upon an average annually, 
about forty seamen in foreign trade, 

I recollect, at present, but one iiutanca of any of my ssamcn being impressed 
by the British; in July, 1809, two seamen, belonging totiie ship Hugh Johnson, 
while siie was lying at Palermo, vvere taken from her by a British man of war 
I do not know their name.-i— one of these men was an Englisbman, the other was 
an American." 

Extract from the deposilion of Moses Townsend^ esq, 

I Moses Townsend, of Salem, in Ihe county of Essex, esquire, do depose 
and say, thai; i irive been engaged in commerce acd navigitlon lor about thirty 
years, and was mister of a ship about twenty years. I have usually had crews 
of ten and twelve men, upon an average. I nevar had any men impressed from 
-iny of the vessels under my coTimand, except once while 1 was at BrisloL in 
England. On that occasion, i had th^ee or four men impressed, belonging to the 
ship Lighthorse, under my command : they were taken in the evening, and up- 
«n my appilciti?a, through the American consul, they were released the next 
day.-' 

Extract from the deposiiion cf Joseph Mudge 

^' 1 Joseph Mudge, of Lynn, in the county of Essex, mariner, do depose and 
say, that I have followed the occupation of a mariner for about twenty years, 
and have been master of a vessel from the first of January 1800, (except about 
four months of the year l8iZ, while I was mate of a vessel, in order to get a 
passage to the United States from abroad.) 

*' I have had seamen frequently taken from ras by Brlti=^h criilsers ; but never 
had any man that i knew to be an American, taken from me, that was not releas- 
ed upon my application." 

Extract from the deposition cf Andreiv Ilarraden, 

" I Andrew Harraden of Salem, in the county of Essex, mariner, depose and 
5ay, that I havp followed the eccupation of a mariner about thirty-two years, of 
which I have bern master of a vessel from the year 1T91 to this time, excepting 
two^voyages performed during that period. I have never had any seamen impress- 
edfr)!n my vessth except inane instance. In the year 1802, while at Cape 
Francois^ in the month of August, a man by the name of George Randall, of 
Hor:tc>n. was taken from my vessel by a French press-master and his gang, and 

U 2- 



22(5 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



carried on board a French frigate lying at that port. On application to the coiiir 
mandant of the port, he was released the next morning. iNone of mv men were 
ever taken or detained by the English. " 

Extract from the deposition of Josiah Orne. 

I Josiah Orne, of Salem, in the county of Essex, mariner, depose and say— 
that I have betn master of a vessel about twenty-seven years. 

I never had any men impressed from tha vessels under my command by the 
British, except in one instance— that was in 1301." 

lExlraclfrom Nathaniel Hooper^s deposilion, 

*' i Nathaniel Hooper, of Marblehead, merchant, do depose and say — that I 
i)ave been engaged in commerce and navigation witli my father and brotliers fcr 
about nineteen years pr.st ; and for about seven years previous to the embargo, 
♦ve employed usually upon an average r.bout fifty seamen in our vessels. We 
kave oever had any men impressed from any of our vessels, that we know of.-' 

Extract from Benjamin T. Rcedh deposition. 

I Benjamin T. Reed, of Marblehead, in the county of Essex, merchant, de- 
pose and say — that 1 have, with my brother, been engaged in trade and naviga- 
tion for about eighteen years past. Before the embargo, we usually employed 
two vessels annually, the crews of which would be from twelve to fifteen men — 
we never had any men iaipressed from our vessels previous to- the embargo^ t») 
my recollection." 

- There are various other depositions annexed to the Report^ 
the ienov and tendency whereof are generally of a similar cha- 
racter to the above. 

The contradiction and inconsislencj^ between these docn- 
meiits, asd Iho^e I have produced in the preceding chapters^ 
are so strong, so striking, and so utterly unaccountable, as to 
make us stand aghast with astonishment. To reconcile them 
in any shape or mode is totally impossible. Were we to place 
full and implicit reMance upon the depositions just quoted, it 
v>oaId almost appear that impressment had been a matter oi 
little or no consequence, and that it had been most extrava- 
gantly exaggerated, to delude and deceive the public mind. — 
But then what becomes of the strong and precise statements of 
Silas Taibot,* of Rufus King.f of Timothy Pickering.j 4)f 
Judge Marshal,]! of Commodore Rodgers,*i[ <^e. witnesses who 
cannot possibly be suspected of anti-Anglican partialiticg, view s 
or prejudices ? 

If the prevailing opinions of the great extent of impregs- 
meat be unfounded, and if deception or delusion hk\s been at- 
tempted, these gentlemen must have concurred in it, as well as 
their political antagonkt^; for their testinecDy is among the 
most conclusive that hcks been produced on (be subject. 

* See page 200. t See page,20€. t See pnge 190. ;; See prge 20^. f 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



227 



The statement of Commodore Rodgers, respecting the 
j^iuster books of the Moselle and Sappho, is the most recent 
document on the subject, and is beyond the reach cf suspi- 
cion. 

To the reader 1 unhesitatingly submit the suljject. Let 
him, whether fe^leralist or democrat, honestly raise the scales 
of truth and justice — Let him impartially weigh the evidence 
on both sides, and let him decide according to the credibility 
of these warring and irreconcileable documents. 

In addition to the information contained in the preceding 
pages, I have now before me a most powerful document on the 
subject of impressment It is 

*' A statement of applications made to the British government on 1538 cases 
of impressed seamen, clahaing to be citizens of the United Slates, from the 1 1th 
of March, 1303, till the 31st of August, \^0 \ ; by George Erving, agent of ths 
United States for the relief and protection of their seamen.*' 

I subjoin an abstract: 

Number of applications, 1538 
Of which are duplicates of former ones, 306 
Original applications, 1232 
Refused to be discharged, having no documents, 388 
Ordered to be discharged, 437 
Said not to be on board the ship specified, 105 
Refused to be discharged, said to have taken the bounty, 

and entered, 120. 
Refused to be discharged, said to be married in Eng- 
land, 1 ? 
Said to have deserted, IS 
Said to have been drowned, or died, 2 
Ships, on board of which stated not in commissioii, 3 
Refused to be discharged, said to be British suhgects, 4Qf 
Refused to be discharged,, said to be prisoners cf war, 2 
Do not appear to have been impressed, 6 
On board ships stated to he on a foreign station, 22 
Shifts lost on hoard of wl»ich stated to be, 6 

Refused to be disckarg-ed^ dcmmenis being insyfftcienf^ li;^. 

1. Protections from consuls and vice-consuls, . 88 

2. Notarial affidavils made in the United States, 15 
3- Notarial affidavits made ia England/ 27 
4, Collector's protections^ 4J 



228 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



5. Discharges granted from king's ships, thev being 
American citizens, 4 

6. Of different descriptions, and which were iiept by 

the impress officers, 35 

7. Applications yet unanswered, 1 13 



1532 

This abstract deserves to be read and examined over and 
over. Every line of it claims the deepest and most serious 
consideration. It appears that in less than eighteen months, 
twelve hundred and thirty-two persons were impressed out of 
American vessels, exclusive of the ver} great number, who, 
we may reasonably conclude, had no means of convening their 
applications for redress to the proper organ. An entire vol- 
ume might be written as a commentary on this memorial of 
British outrage and injustice, and of American disgrace and 
dishonor. 

The first item is hideoui : three hundred and eighty-three 
impressed Americans are doomed to remediless slavery, be- 
cause they were not branded with the mark U. S. or provided 
with a badge, a pass, a license, or certificate ! Suppose Com- 
modore Perry, or Commodore iVIacdonough, or Commodore 
Porter, had impressed three huinlred and eighty-three men from 
on board of British vessels, under pretence of their being 
Americans — (and has the Almighty given any right to a British 
commodore or admiral beyond what he has vested in an Amer- 
ican commodore or admiral ?) and suppose Mr. Merry, Mr. Lis- 
ton, Francis James Jackson, P^Ir. Rose, or Mr. Foster, had de- 
manded them — and that our secretary of state had perempto- 
liiy refused to surrender them, because they had not the regu- 
lar brand of G. R. or a propter certificate or j)rotection, would 
Great Britain have submitted to the slow process of further de- 
manding and waiting for redress ? Indubitably not. 

One hundred and five were doomed to slavery, by a remo- 
val from the vessels in which they were impressed, to others. 
An easy and summary process, by which the doors of redress 
are eternally barred with adamantine fastenings. 

One hundred and twenty of these sufferers are withheld be» 
oause they had taken the bounty, or voluntarily entered I In 
forming an estimate of th^ justice of this plea, we must not lose 
sight of the subsequent cruel tragedy acted by order of Com- 
modore Berkley, on board the Chesa{»eake, in order to seize 
men who had voluatarily entered on board that vessel. If thi? 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



229 



is hot — give no right — take no wrong — I cannot divine what de? 
serves the litie. 

I am tired of this vile, this odious, this detestable sul:nect. — 
It excites to loatliing and abhorrence. I must draw to a close. 
But there is one more point that I must touch upon — and that 
is, that of the whole number of twelve hundred and thirty -twOj 
there are only forty-nine asserted to be British subjects ! The 
American, who, after these statements, can advocate the atro- 
cious practice of impressment, must be utterly lost to a sense 
of justice for his countrymen, or regard to the national rights 
or national honor. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

An apology for an egregious error committed by the writer^ on the 
siihj^ct of preparatio7i for war. The whole session one coyitin- 
ued series of preparations. Nineteen acts bearing strong notes 
of martial arrangement, 

I DEExM it indispensably necessary to correct a m:)st egre- 
gious error into which I was betrayed by the haste in which 
my first edition was com{)i!ed and written. I therein enume- 
rated, among the errors of Mr. Madison's administration, the 
neglect to make due preparation for the war, " previous to the 
commencement of hostilities." 1 deeply re^rret to have cast 
such a superticial glance at the subject; to have allowed myself 
to be so grossly deceived; and to have contributed to. lead my 
reader astray. There were amn!e preparations made, as may 
be seen by the following list of acts nassed during the session 
of congress, towards the close of which war was declared. 

Previous to the declaration of war 

1. An act for completing the existing: military establishment. 
December 24, 

2. An act to raise an additional military force. This ac 
provided for raising ten regiments of infantry, two regiments 
of artillery, and one regiment of light dragoons, to be enlisted 
for live years unless sooner discharged. The infantry amount- 
ed to about 20,000 men— the artillery to 4000— and the oavalrv 
to 1000, Jan. 11,1812, 



230 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



3 An act authorising the purchase of ordnance and ordnance 
stores, camp equipage, and other quarter- master's stores and 
smali arms. Jan. 14, 1812. 

4. An act authorising the president of the United States to 
accept and authorise certain volunteer military corps, not to 
exceed 50,000 men. For this purpose there was an appropria- 
tion of 1,000,000 dollars. Feb. 6, 1812. 

5. An act appropriated 108,772 dollars for the expenses in- 
cident to six companies of mounted rangers. Feb. 20, 1812. 

6. An act making appropriations for the support of the mili*. 
tary establishment of the United States for 1812, viz. 



For the pay of the army 869,968 

Forao:e 104,624 

Subsfstenee 685,000 

Clothing 293,804 

Bounties and premiums 70,000 

Medical department 50,000 

Ordnance and ordnance stores 1,135,000 

Fortifications 296,04S 

For the quarter-master's department 735,000 

For purchase of horses 1 50,000 

Contingencies 50,000 

Indian department 164,500 

Militia of Louisiana, &c. 32,000 



$4,635,945 

Passed Feb. ^1, 1812. 

7. All act making appropriations for the support of an addi- 



tional military force : 

For pay 1,406,857 

Forage 154,435 

Subsistence 1,0~4,097 

Clothing 863,244 

Bounties and premiums 442,260 

Horses for dragoons 282,000 

Quarter- master's departments 408,760 

Medical department 125,000 

Contingencies 355,911 



$5,112,564 

Passed Feb. 12, 1812. 

8. An act making appropriations for the support of the navy 
cf the United States, for 1 8 1 2. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



231 



Pay and subsistence l;123,34i 

Provisions 559,757 

Medicines 40,000 

Repairs of vessels 315,000 

Freight, store- rent, <S:c. 1 1 5,000 

Navy yards, ScC. 60,000 

Ordnance and ordnance stores 280,000 

Saltpetre, sulphur, (fee. 180,000 

Pay and subsistence of marine corps 154,34^ 

Clotxhing for do. 49,281 

Military stores for do. 1,777 

3Iedicines, d:c. 3,501 

Quarter-master's stores 20,000 



§2,902,002 

Passed Feb. 24, 1812. 

9. An act making further appropriation for the defence of 
mir maritime frontier. This act appropriated for the purpose, 
$500,000. Passed March 10, 1812. 

10. An act for a loan of $11,000,000, for defraying the 
^above expenses. Passed March 14, 1812. 

11. An act concerning the naral establishment, for repairing 
the frigates Constellation, Chesapeake, and Adams. For this 
purpose there \\as appropriated $300,000. 

By this act there vas an appropriation made cf $200,000 
annually, for three years, for the purchase of a stock of timber 
for ship-building. The first appropriation was for re-building 
the frigates Philadelphia, Gerteral Greene, New York and Bos- 
ton. Passed i\Iarch 30, 1812. 

12. An act in addition to the act to raise an additional mili- 
tary force. Passed April 8^ 1812. 

13. An act to authorise a detachment from the militia of the 
United States, to the amount of 100,000 men. This act con- 
tained a clause appropriating one million of dollars towards de- 
fraying the expenses to accrue under it. Passed April 10, 
1812. 

14. An act for the organization of a corps of artificers. Pass- 
ed April 23, 1812. 

15. An act for the better regulation of the ordnance. PaiS' 
ed May 14, 1812. 

Subsequent to the declaratiGn of war. 

16. An act for the more perfect organization of the army of 
the United States. Passed June 26, 1812, 



J232 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



17. An act making a further appropriation for the defence of 
the maritime frontier, and for the support of the army of the U. 
States. Passed July 5, 1812. 

18. An act making additional appropriations for the mili- 
tary establishment, and for the Indian department. Passed July 
§, 181z. 

19. An act making further provision for the army of the U. 
States. Passed July 6, 1812. 

It therefore appears, that nearly the whole session was spent 
?n making preparations for hostility — for ofiensive and defen- 
sive operations. I shall not easily forgive myself the very ex- 
traordinary error, of which 1 have acknowledged myself guilty 
on this subject. 1 shall regard it as a monition, as long as I 
live, against precipitate decision. And may I take the liberty 
of hinting to the reader, whoever he be, that he may, perha})s, 
derive a useful lesson from the fact? If, with the attention I 
have been in the habit of paying to public affairs — reading two 
or three newspapers every day — and perfectly convinced of the 
justice of the war — I have nevertheless fallen into such a pal- 
pable, such a monstrous error, on so plain a point — if I have 
brought so unjust an accusation against the congress which de- 
clared the war — ho\y difficult must it be for persons remote from 
opportunities of judging correctly, and liable to be misled by 
interested or factious men, to form accurate opinions ? 

A further and most convincing proof of the magnitude of the 
error which I committed, is to be found in the circumstance, 
that on the 12th of July, 1812, onl}^ twenty-four days after the 
declaration of war, General Hull, at the head of 2.500 men, 
well appointed, had penetrated into Canada : and, had the same 
talent and bravery that displayed themselves at Yorklown, 
Chippewa, Bridgewater, the Saranac, New Orleans, and other 
places, presided over their movements, there is no doubt, that 
in the first campaign, the whole of Upper Canada, and perhaps 
Lower Canada too, with the exception of Quebec, might have 
been subdued. This army had 3750 muskets, 36 pieces of 
cannon, 1080 rounds of fixed ammunition for the cannon, 200 
tons of cannon ball, 150 tons of lead, 70,000 musket cartridges 
made up, &c. &c. &c.* 

Let it be borne in mind, that among the heinous charges on 
the subject of the war, against the administration, the want of 
due preparation has been the most prominent. We here see 
^ow utterly fallacious and unfounded is the allegation. 

* See ""A^eekly Register, vol. iii. p, 93. 



TtlE OLIVE BRANCH. ^ 23S^ 



CHAPTER XL. 

Reproaches cf the mimrity against the imbecility of th€ majoriti,\ 
Pcrnicicus consequences of ^newspaper inisrepresentatiQus. Bri- 
tish deceived hy tluir friends. 

While the serious preparations detailed in the preceding 
chapter were going forward, the federal printers throoghout the 
union were pretty generally and zealously employed in ridicu- 
ling the idea of war— persuading the public that all these mea- 
sures were illusory, and intended to intimidate the British min- 
J5(py — ^and that our government possessed neither the courage 
nor the means to venture on hostility. 

I have already quoted the notorious declaration made hy sev- 
eral members of congress, particularly Mr. Josiah Quincy, 
(hat " thx majority could not be kicked into ivar.'' 

This course of proceeding is not easily accounted for. It 
must have had some motive. And it requires an extraordinary 
degree of charity to ascribe it to a motive either laudable or 
patriotic. 

Suppose, for a moment, that our rulers did not really 
mean war — that they were actually destitute of the means of 
carrying it on — that th^y were too cowardly to be kicked into 
il'^ — was it wise, was it prudent, was it honorable, was it poli- 
tic, to blazon our deficiencies to the world — to assure England 
that she might safely, and with impunity, continue the perpe- 
tration of her outrages on an uncSending neutral, because that 
neutral could not be kicked info war to resist these outrages ?— 
Surely not. 

In pursuance of the plan I have followed throughout this work, 
01 establishing all points of importance by indisputable evi- 
dence. I subjoin a few of the paragraphs to v/hich I refer. They 
will satisfy even the most incredulous reader. 

Sincke ! Smoke ! 

*' Oar correspondent suggests, that in the event of certain measures alrea(?y 
tJiken by tiie executive, failicg, then to augment the force by new levies — or by 
forming "len corps cf 1200 men each, to be seiected from the militia of a certain 
age of the several states who may volunteer for such corps during the ^var. it 
is to us a iro?t astonishicg and inconceivable thing, that on reading the above, 
any man shoukl be alarmed, and think oar government are about to take decisive,' 
sitys. Will our administration never be understood P Shall we forever b^ the 
dupes of a contemptible farce, which has been exhibiting for years, to make peo- 
ple wonder and stare P My life on it, our executive have no more idea of de- 
claring war thanm.y grandmother." Boston Repertory, Jan. 9, 1810. 

''^ Our goyernmerd rMl not make rear on Great Britain ; but will keep uj^ a 
constaut irritation on somt prelenc^ cr other ^ for the sake of maintaiciag their in- 



234 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



iluence as a party. The more the public suffer, the more irritable they will be - 
vind government wiii trust to their address to direct that irritability against 
Great-Britain.'' Boston Repertory, April 17, 1810. 

The 25,000 men bill passed congress — and in this city [New-York] the sen- 
.sation produced by it was not half equal to that wliich was caused by the gover- 
nor's notice of banks. Mr. Gallatin recommended a whiskey tax, &;c and ev- 
ery body laughed to think what a queer thing it was for a man, who had tigiwed 
*o much in the whiskey iosurrecficn, to be the author of such a measure. The 
N'^^-York Gazette, however, still graced its colusnns, and we too loiuetimes wiiii 

for Liverpool— for London," (isic <fcc. The committee of way-, and means at 
last cotne out with their Pandora's box of taxe-. Yet nobody dreams rf nar. — ^ 
The mechanics, tije banks, nay, ttie insurance oScvs goon as usual. Last of all, 
i 1,000,000 of dollars — Still no alier-jtion rf the public puhe — no concern by friend 
or foe of administration. • All is well i In the name of wonder, how or why is? ail 
this ! Exposed as the city of New- York is, why this security, tiiis apathy ? Are 
aii ike proceedmgs of government a firce, and that so palpable a one as to he un- 
derstood by the most stupid ? Or what is the reason that not the slightest a.nx- 
5ety is feit by ourselves p If government is in earne-^t, why have the>' not, why 
do thej' not proceed more rapidly IVhy is our skipping permifted to rvn into 
ctrtain capture ? £itJier the government is most ftihe and kyp *cr '.tical^ or the pco- 
^i)le out if thdr senses ?" New-York Evei;iu;i Post, Feb. 1812. 

*^ When 1-^'ee such a palpable failure in all the means, natural and necessary, 
for carrying on the war — when \ see the exposure of your sea board — when I see 
the actual military force, instead ofbeinii; increased in efficiency, in fact reducing, 
'tieither promises., nor assf vertitions, lior oatkj^ shall make me believe ik it ycu will go 
to war at the end n/ ninety daya. Cjposuit mlura. Nature has decided aiiainst 
you. Instead of that feast of war, to which we were invited, at t!je h^^sinning of 
the session, we have served up to us the old dish cf restrictions. There is no 
need of prophecy to tell the re.^nlt. \t tiie end of ninetj^ days, you wlil tind that 
your preparation is not sufficient. The horrors ff nar Jin'll be preached up very 
kissiduoiisly during our recess. Familiarity with embargo will diminish its dread. 
The restrictive system bccoines identified with some personal, local, paltry inter- 
est. The navigating states are sacriJked : and the spirit anvl character of the 
country are prostrated in the dust, by fear or by avarice." Mr Quincey's speech 
on the embargo, April 8, 1812. 

" The proiect of attack ir*g Canada . is now ^iven up. Some ether plan is te be 
devised. ''^ Philadelphia Gazette, Jan. 30, 1312. 

" They [the leaders in congress] have already gone far enough in war. They 
are conscious they -tannot comm^wce^ prosecvte, and terminate a mar ; that the 
hands which begin, will never finish it. TAcy shrink from it. They already 
stagger under the tveigki. 

They (ire frightened as the aspect bccjnies a little serious, and wish to go home 
• and think of it " Piiilndelphiu Ga :ette, Jan. 10, 1812. 

If vou think a vote to raise 2^,000 men, looks like war, rrj=> quiet y^-vr ap- 
~j>rehen^ijns. You do not undrrsraiid what h here called mana^eraent. THERE 
WILL, AS I BELIEVE, BE NO WAR. The ivur whoop Jke orders in c our 
til, the non-impartntion, the presidential caiicussing nill vanvk before summer.' 
Baitiiiiore Federal Gazette, as c acted in the Philadelphia Gazette, Jan. lo, 
1&12. 

**I tell you James Madison will not dare to march a msn to Canada with the a- 
vowed spirit of warfare — not a man, sir — no— not one — in our present defenceless 
state. So no more of this dream.'''' Philadelphia Gazette, Jan. 27. ?812. 

We are firmlv persuaded, that the majority in congress rfo not mean todc - 
dare nar at pnse^it ; TBAT THEY DARE NOT : and that all their ^hreat^ 
are but cmtemptibU vapoui-ing.,- which will die away like the vapourings of a 
drunken man, before they rise." Boston Repertory, Dec. 24, 1811. 

*' It is amazingly inal-a-propos, and moreover very vexatious, that while our 
centinels of public liberty are legislating away in *^ the full tide of successful ex- 
periment" at Washington, their ?vell~laid plans are failing every nhere : the fn>& 
f,r^ain sinms of their darling war ^ appear to be m-ysi miserabl'j relaxed. NEl- 



^HE OLIVE BRANCH. 



235 



HER MES ARE TO "BE HAD-NOR MONEV TO PAY THEM/'— 
-.lexandria Gazette, as quoted in the fliiiadelphia Gazette, May 14, I8l2. 

This paragrapli was published only five weeks l3efore the 
declaration of war. It was, with hundreds of others of simihir 
character, calculated to keep up the delusion to the last, at home 
11 nd abroad. 

DuriHg the period when those paragraphs were publisliing 
ill our Gazettes, I felt the must serious uneasiness on the sub- 
J-ect. I believed their euect would he to produce war. I re- 
|-?eatedi3^ expressed my fears on the subject. I was convinced 
that thej' would delude England into a belief, that she might 
laugh ouv efforts to scorn — and that she would persevere in her 
obnoxious course till v,e were finally '■'kicked into A- 
inong oilier gentlemen to whom I comm niicated my apprehen- 
gions on this subject, v;ere James Milnor, Adam Seybert, and 
William Anderson, Esqrs. then representatives in congress 
from this state, it w as in the gallery of the house of represent- 
atives, and, as far as T recoUecf, early io May, 1812. ^ 

The efforts to spread this delusion were not conSned to this 
side of the Atlantic. No. The same industry was employed 
in letters to correspondents in England and Ireland, which 
made their appearance in the public papers in those kingdoms. 
Never was more application employed on any subject — and 
never was application more unholy or pernicious. 

I submit an extract from one of those letters, to the reader. 
It is a fair specimen of hundreds which really appear to have 
been dictated by the most serious apprehensions lest the Bri- 
tish should relctx^ and lest we might thus escape war. 

From the Londop.dcriy Journal, June, 18, 1812. 

Extract of a letter lo a gentleman in tkis j)Iace, dated 

rhiladelpliia, May 8, lSi2. 

wili perceive by the copy of a nil] which l endose, tliat vre Americans 
are " at mr dirty 7vork agaiii ''^' But I adiise you not io be alirmcd at the 
1 10 Ic'nce of our proceedings. We shall cnitinue to hlusttr . This is mir char IK- 
t eristic, Jnd rve would do more, if rce could. But it is noi in our pon cr. We 
have not a dollar in ike treasury — no armir deserving ike name o f ane — imd ar^t 
actually tvithoui a navy. Added to this, not a ■mGieii'of the loanofehven ndlUvUii 
7iill ever be procured.'*^ 

I wish the reader, before he closes this chapter, to ^v^lgb 
well its contents. Let hiai dive into the most profound re- 
cesses of the human heart. Let him try to discover the main 
spring that dictated paragraphs and letters, fi^aiight with ^ i-^b 
ruinous consequences to both nations. 



236 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



The effect of this vile course of jiroceeding was highly pemi- 
eloiiS in two points of viev^^ widely dilfereut from each other. 
It fatally helit out every possible encouragement to the British 
ministry to persevere in the career of depredaticm on American 
commerce, and an utter disregard to and violation of the rights of 
sovereignty of the United States. It was, moreover, calculated 
to goad, and I have no doubt did contribute to goad, our rulers 
into war. 

Reader, let me illustrate this point by a plain case which oc- 
Quvs in our streets every ^dij. Two boys have a quarrel — but 
are not very willing to come to an open rupture, lest tlieir eyes', 
and noses, and mouths, should sulTer violence in the affraj'. — 
Some of the humane spectators pat them on the backs, and try 
to persuade each that his antagonist " cannci he kicked into war^^ 
— at the same time appealing to his pride to resent the insult. — 
This laudable course seldom fails of success. The united in- 
Cnence of regard for his honour, and reliance on his antagonist's 
cowardice, excites the courage of one or both just to the point 
*of aggression. This Wois the horrible result between the Uni- 
ted States and England, of a procedure which never can be loo 
highly censured. 

1 could pursue this topic to a verj^ great extent. It admits 
iA-A wide field of investigation : but I leave it with the reader, 
i have barely erected a finger post to direct his career. 

I am fully persuaded that Great Britain did not desire actual 
war with the United States. Had her ministers really believed 
the alternative to be, w ar or a repeal of the orders in council, 
they would have repealed them in season. But their friends 
on this side the Atlantic most cruelly deceived them. Every 
day's experience proves that \^ cne indiscreet^ imprudent^ or 
injudicious friend, does more injury than three enemies > [C7^ The 
friends of England in this country have afforded undeniable 
proofs of the correctness of the maxim. The writers whom I 
have quoted above, and others of similar character, have inflict- 
ed on her more injury than ten times the number of the most 
violent anti-Anglicans in the country. 

CHAPTER XLI. 

War proceedings in Congress, Yeas and Nays. Inexplicahle 
conduct. Mr. Quincy, and other violent Federalists^ voted in 
the affirmative on almost all the questions leading to W ar — lut 
against war itself. 

This, reader, is a dry and dull chapter. It is little more 
than reiterated lists cf names. It cannot afford much enter- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



2a7 



aitiment. But if you have fairly travelled with me tliusfar, I 
deprecate your passing over these few pages. hat uiey may 
want ill eaterlainmentj I hope tiiey will conipensate ia iostruc- 
lion. 

When the vote was finally taken on the declaration of war, 
there were 49 members in the negative, whose i>ames are sub- 
joined — 

Naye— Messrs. Baker, Bsrtlett, Bleecker, Boyd, Breclienridgc, Brignr.rn, 
Champion, Gbittenden, Cooke, Davenport. Ely, Emott, Fi^.cli, Gold, Goldsbo- 
rough, Huftv,. Jack? oil. Key, L^iw, Lewis. Maxwell, APBryde, Metc-ilf. MilKor, 
MHchell, Mo-ely, Nevrbold, Pearson, Pitkin, Fetter, Q,aincy, Rtindo'pli, E.ced, 
RiJgalv, Rodman, Smiiaions, Stanford, Stewart, Stow, Starge?, SiiUivan, Tag- 
2art, Talmadie, raiiman, Tracy, Van Cortlacdt, W^heaioi^, White, Vv ilsoa.— 18^ 

I annex a statement of the votes on yarious measures pre» 
paratory to war. The names of those w^ho final ly voted agairist 
ihe war, are in. Italic. 

December IQ, mi, 

" Tlie question ivas tftken on the following resolution : 

*' That it is expedient to aulhorize the President, under proper regulations, io 
accept the service of aoy nnmber of vohiute.ers. not exceeding ilfty thousand ; t*:* 
be organized, trained, and held in readiness to rxt on such service as the exigen - 
cies of government may req'jire j 

" And decided thus : 
Yeas — Alston, Archer, Avery, Bacon, Baktr, Bard, Bartldr, Basset, Bihb, 
Blackiedgp, BleeckeVy Blount, Boyd, Breckeriridge. Brown, Burweli, Butler, 
Calhoun, Cheeves, Ckilicnden, Cooiiran, Clopton, Cocke, Condit, Crawford. Da- 
vi*s, Dawson, Dinsmoor, Emott, Findley, Fisk, Fitch, Franklin, GhoLon, Gold., 
Goldsborou^h, Goodwyn, Green, Grundy, B. Hall, O. Hall, Harper, Hxifty^ 
fiyneman, Johnson, Kent, Kin^, Lacork, Lefever, Little, LiviB^rffon. Lnwndeg, 
Lyle, Macon. Maxwell, Moore, liVBryde, M'Coy, M'Kee, M-'Kim, Metcalf, 
Milnor, Mifckell, Morgan, Morrow, Mosely, Nelson, Newbold, Newton, Ormsby» 
Paulding, Pearson, Pickens, Piper, Pitkm, Pond, Porter, Quincy, Ri^d. Ridgdy. 
Ringgold, E.hea, Roane, Roberts, Rodman, Sage, Sammons, Seaver, Sevier, 
Seybert, Shaw, ShefFey, Smilie, G. Smith. Stow, strong, Sidlimn, Talmadge^ 
Fallman, Tracy, Troup, Turner, Van Corllandt, White," Whitehiil, Williams, 
Widgery, IVilsoyu Winn, Wright, HavTe?^ Desha.— 113. 

Nays— Messrs. Bigelow, Brigharn. Ckammon, Divenporl, Ely, Gray, Jack-- 
^m, La^}, Leivis, Poiter, Randolph, J, Smith, Stanford, Slur^es, fa^garL JVkea^ 



Sojne day. 

The question was nest taken on the fourth resolution or the cemrcltiee or 
.oreign relations, in the following words : 

* * That the President he authorised to order out from time to iimey sueh d^ 
lacaments of the militia, as in his opinion the public service may require : 

*| And decided as follows : ~ ^ ^ 

' H Messrs. Alston, Anderson. Archer. Avery, Bacon, Baker, Bkrd. Bart- 

^ Bass^tt, Bibb, Blackledge, Bleecker, Blouiit, Boyd, Breckenridge. Brown^ 
i^urwell, Butler, Calhoun, Cheeves, Chittendm, Cochran, Clopton, Cooke, Condit, 
^rawford, Davw, Dawson, Desha; Dinsmoor, Earle, Einoit, Findlev, Fisk, Fiich^ 
iV'^P i^"Vr"^'*^^"' ^^^'^^ G'OldzhcYOUgh, Goodwin, Gray, Green, Grundy, B. 
ivxailj O. Hall_^ Harper, Hawe^, Hvfty. Hyneman, Johnson, Kent, King, Lacoei^ 

W 2 



238 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



)jefever, Lercis^ LitUe, Livingston, Lowndes, Lyie, Macon, MaxnclU Moore; 
UPBride. M'Coy, TvPIvee, M'Kim, Mdailf, Milnor, Mitchdl .Morgan, Morrow 
Mosely, INelson, JSeivbold, Newton, Ormsby, Paulding. Pearson. Pickens, Piper, 
FitJdn, Fond. Porter, Pctier, Quincy, Randolph^ Recd^ Rids^ely, RinL^old, Rhea, 
Roane, Roberts, Rodman, G Smith, J. Smith, Stanibrd, Strons, SuliUan. Tai- 
madge, Talbnan, Tracy, Troup, Turner, Van Cortlandt, Whtaion, IVh'ie, White- 
liill, Williams, Widgery, Wilson, Winn, Wright.— 120. 

JVays—Mesjrs. Bigdow, Brigham, Champion, Davenport^ Jackson^ Law, 
Siurgcs, Taggart.~d. 



Same day, 

^' The question was tciken on the fifth resolution, iu the words following : 

" That all the vessels r.ot now in service belonging to the navy, and wortiiy of 
: i*.pair,, be immediately fitted up and put in commission. 

*' And carried as follows : 
Yeas— Messrs. Akton, Anderson, Archer, Avery, Bacon, Baker, Bard, Bart- 
idt, Bassett, Bigeiow, Blackledge, Bleecker, Blouut, Breckenridge, Brigham., 
i3urw ell, Butler, Calhoun, Champion, Cheeves, Chitfei^den, CGchra^n, Clopton, 
Cocke^ Condit, Crawford, Davis, Dawson, Desha, Dinsmoor. Earie. Ely, Emott\ 
I^indley, Fitch^ Franklin, Gholson, Gold, Goldsboroiigk. Goodwyn, Green, Gi uu- 
-dv, B. Hall, O. Hall, Harper, Hawes, Ilyneraan, Jackson, Joim?GC, Kent, King, 
Lacock, Lan^, Lefevre, Little, Li^^ngston, Lowndes. Lyle, Mco'nell. Moore, 
M'Bryc^.e, M'Coy, M^Kim, Mdcalf, Milnor, Miichpll, Morgan, Morrow, Mose- 
Nelson, Nenbold, Newton, Ormsby, Paulding, Pcarscni, Pickens, Piper, Pit- 
kin, Pond, Porter, Quincy, Reed^ Padgdy, Ringgold, Rhea. Roane, RobertB, 
Sage, Sammons. Seaver, Sevier, Seybert, Shaw, G. Smith, Strong, Sturges, Sulli' 
j-an^ TaxLgart, Talmadge, Tallrnan, Tracy, Troup, Turner, Van Coitlandi^ Ji'hea- 
JVhite, Widgery, JVilson, Winn, Vrrlght. — III. 

*^ Nays—Messrs Bibb. Boyd, Erorvn, Gr^y, Hvfty. Ltivis, Mncon, Foiic7\ 
Ra^idolphj Rodman^ Sheffey, Snaiiie, Stanford, Whitehill, Williams. — 15. 



December 19, 18 1 1. 

^' The q\iestion wa.^ taken oa the following resclutioi}, and carrii^cl. 
That it is expedient to permit our merchant v^essels, owned exclusively by 
res'deot citizens, and commanded and navigated solely by citizens, to arm under 
^iroDer res^i^tions to be orescribed bv law. in self defence against ail unlawful 
proceedings towards them on the high seas. 

^' Yeas — Messrs. Alston, Anderson, Avery, Bacon, Baker, Bassett,Bibb, Bige- 
low, Blackledn,e Bleecksr, Breckorridge, Brighayn, Butlrr, Calhoun, Champion^ 
Clieeves, Chiiicnden, Clopton, Cooke, Condit, Crawfoi d, Davenport, Davis, Daw- 
son, Desha, Dinsmoor, Ety, Findiey. Fitch, Franklin, Gholson, Gold, Goldsbo- 
rough. Goodwyii, Green, Grundy. B. Hail. O. Flail, Harper, Hawes, H3iien:an, 
Jackson, Johnson, King. LsLCOck, Lan\ Lefever, Littie, Livingston, Lyle, 3IaX' 
well, ?»loore, M^Bryde, M'Coy, Meicalf, Jj-iilnGr, Morgan, Moschy, Nelson, Neit- 
bold, Newton, Ormsby, Paulding, Pearson, Pickens, Piper, Pitkin, Pleasemts, 
Fond, pci ter, Pearson, Qiiincy, Reed, Ridgcly, Ringgold, Rhea, Roan^, Sage, 
Sp7nm.r!n3, Seaver, Sevier, Shaw. Smilie, J, Snr-th, Sioiv, Siurgcs, Taggart, TgU- 
-man, Tracii, Troup, Turner, Van Corilandl^ Jl'heaton, JVhite^ Widgery, Wilson, 
BariUit, Poller,— 'Ql, 

' *' Nays — Messrs. Archer, Bard, Plount, Boyd, Brown, Cochran Hufty, Kent. 
Lowndes, Macon. M'Xee, I\l'Kim, Mitchell, Morrow, Roberts, Rodman. Shef- 
ifey, Stanford J Stewart, Whitehill, Williains, Wrlglit.— 22. 



Jarmnry 6, 1812. 

" Tlie house took iip tlic bill for raising an additional military force, which 
«a']ly passed, -94 to 34. The yeas and nays were ?.s follows ■ 

" Yeas — Mi^ssrs. Alston, Anderson, Archer, Avery, Bacon, Bard, ^cri/eff. 
-Bibb. Blackledge, Blcscktr^ Blount, BrowPj Burwell, Butler, Calhoun,' Cheeve?, 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



233 



, , ,,:,.r! ClopioH, Coodit, Crawford, Davis, Daw?on, Deslr^, Diasmoor, 
Earle, EmoU. FincKey, Fi.-k, Franklin. Gholson. Gold, Green, Grundy, B. HalL 
O Hall, Harper, Hawes, Hynemisi, Johnson, Kent, King, Lsrcock, Lefevre, Lit- 
lie, Llviij^slon; Lo^^rides, Lyle, Mc xweli, Moore, M'Coy. M'Kee. M'Kim, Mel- 
calf, Milnor. MitdtelU Morgan, Morrow, Nelson, Kew, Newtoa, Ojmsby Paul- 
ding, Pickens, Piper, Poad, Portrr, Qitincv^ Re^.d, Ringgold, Rnea. RoaBe, P».ob- 
eVcS, Sage, Sanim-jris^ Sfr-iVf ! , Sevier. Seybert, Shaw. G Smith, J Smith, Strong, 
Sullivan^ Tollnmn, Talliaferro. Tracy. I'roup, Turner, Van Coriiandl^ U^illianis, 
Bassett, WiJgery, Winn, ^Vright.— 94 >^ ^ 

" Nays — Me.s?!'?. Bii{:clow. Boijd, BrcckfM7'idge^ Brighcin, Champion Chilten- 
den Davenport. Ely, Fitch, Hvfiy. Jackson, Key Laiv Lcnis, Maecrn M'Bryi^^ 
Moisdy, Ntrchvld Penrmn, Pitkin. Pciier. Bcndolpfu Rodman, '^htfi'ey, Smilie' 
Sinn/vrd^ Sttivartj StoR'^ Sturfses, Taggari^ Tallrnadgc, JVhcaton, JVkitfs^ li Hsojl 
l. 



January 20, ]812. 

The engros?'ed hill concerning tlie naval establishment was read the third 
iUic and passed The yeas and nays on its passage were as follows : 

Yea? — Messrs Alston Anderson. B^issetl, i^lackledge. Breckenridge, Bur- 
, cll, Butler, Calh^^un, Cheeves, Chittenden.. Condit, JJavenport. Davi?, Jj'mz- 
moor, Ely t Em dt Findlc^y. Fisk, FifcA, Franklin, GLoIsou, Goodwin, Green, 
Pl'irper Hawes, Hyneinan, King, Litt'e. Liv.r gs'.on, Lownde*, Max7vell, JMoore, 
WBryde. M'Coy, M'Kim, Milnor, Mitchell, Nelson, Newton Piikin, Pleas- 
ants, Pond, Potter Richardson, Ringgold, Rhea. Seybert, ShefFey, G. Smith, J. 
Srnltii, S4eivarty Stow, Sturges, Tc.gmri, Tailiaferro, Tracy^ Troup, Turner, Van 
Cortlandt, JVhmion^ White, Wil.son. VVinn, Wright. — 

" Naysi — Messrs. Bacon, Bibb, Boyd, Brown, Cochran, Cra-vford, Desha, O. 
Hal), Hnfiy, Jo;in>on. Lacock, L>le. Macon, M'Kee, Metcclf\ Morgan, New, 
JServbold. Piper. Ro?n;-. Roberts, Rodman, Sage, Seaver,.Shaw, Smilie, Staiiford^ 
-Strong, Mitchell, Williams —30. 



Fthruary 19, 1812. 

The engrossed bill for authorising a loan for eleven rcillioHs of dollars, wa^ 
xead the third time, and the question was put, shall the hill pass its third read- 
ing." 

" Yeas — Messrs. Alston, Anderson, Archer, Bacon, Bard, Bassett, Eibb,- 
BUccker, Boyd, Brow^n, Burwell, Butler. Caiiioun, Cheeves, Clay. Cochran, Gon- 
dii, Crawford, Davis, Daw-^on, Desha, Dinsmoor, Earl, Emott^ Findley, Fisk, 
Franklin, Ghol?on, Gold^ Goodvvyn, Green, Grundy, B. Hall, O, Hall, Harper, 
Hawes, Hufty^ Johnson, Kent, King, Lacock, Lefevre, Little, Livingston, 
Lowndes, Lyle, Macon, Maxivell, Moore, M^Coy, M'Kiin, 31eicalf. Mitchell^ 
Morgan, Morrow, Nelson, New, Newbold, Newtoii, Ormsby, Pickens, Piper^ 
Pleasants, Pond, Poiter, Potter^ Quincy, Reed, Richardsoa, Ringg-oid, Rliea^ 
Roaric, Roberts, Sage, Saminom^ Seaver, Sevier, Seybert. Shaw, Smilie, G. 
Smith. J. Smith, Slrnj, Strong. Tracy, Troap, Turner, Van Cvrtlandt, Whitehill, 
Widgery, Winn, Wright. — ^92 

N^ys — Pvlessrs Baker. Bigelow. Breckenridge, Biigham^ Champi.Gn, Chitten- 
den, Davenport Filth, Goldsharough^ Gray, Jacksfm^ Law, Lewis. Miimr, Moie- 
ty Pearson, Pitkin, Randolph^ Ridgely^ Rodman, Shefiey, Stenartj SturgeSf 
Taggnrd, Talbnadge, Wheaion, White, Wilson— 2d. 

I hope the reader has fully examined those dry lists, and hag 
his mind prepared for the reSections I have to submit iipoa 
theai. 

No man will dem^ that a publie fiuiclionary '^ho acts witk 
n'oss ami manifest iQCoiisisteney ia his politicai career, espe- 



24§ 



THE OLiVE BRANCH. 



cially, in mat ters of the highest possible importance to his con^ 
stituents, foifeils their coDtklent^. Of course it is extremelv 
dangerous to submit to his guidance. 
The war was either just or unjust. 

Ever}" man who believed it unjust, and who voted for a series' 
of measures leading to it, betrayed his trust. 

Every man who voted for the measures leading to vv'ar; who 
opposed it after it was declared; and who, as f^\r as in his 
power, thwarted the measures ado[>ted to carry it on, was guilty 
of a gross, manifest, and palpable inconsistency — and in either 
one or other course betrayed his trust. 

That these positions are correct, cannot be denied. I proceed 
to apply them — and shall single out an individual, to make the 
ease more striking. 

Jtisiah Qiiincy voted, as we have seen, {^J^for a set of meas^ 
KTCs^ all predicated upon an approachitig war. He voted far the 
iGan to raise the raoney necessari/ to give effect to those measures, 
He^ and forty -eight other members^ 7vho had generally voted with 
him for cdl these preparatory measures^ voted against the war it- 
Mlf And further, they did not vurcly vote against the 7var^ but 
thirty fmir of them published a inost inflammatory protest^ ad- 
dressed to their consiiiuerds^ to excite them to oppose it, Thig 
protest, and other violent measures, w^ere, fatally, but too sue- 
eessfuL 

I annex the names of the protestors. 

Messrs. Brigha-ni, Bigelow, M'Sride, BrecVenridge, Baker, Bleecker, ChaKipi- 
on, Ciiittenien, Davenporl, Emott, Ely, Fitch, Gold, Goldsboroiigh, Jackson, 
Key, Lewis, Law, Mosely, Milrscr, Potter, Pearson, Pitkin, Quincy, Reed-, 
"Kidgely, gallivan, SteTrart, Sttjrges, Talliiiadge, Taggart, White, Wilson, Whea- 
tm, 

I aver (hat the whole of the annals of legislation, from the- 
first organisation of deliberative bodies to this hour, [tJ^ cannot 
produce a more sinisier^ dark^ or inysterious policy , These gentle- 
men, particularly Mr.Quincy,who has been so conspicuous in his 
opposition to the war. are most solemol}^ cited before the bar of 
the public, and called upon to explain the motives of their con- 
duct to that countrv, "^vhich was brought to the jaws of perdi= 
lion by the opposition they excited against a v>^ar which tbej 
^^Lintenanced in almost every stage but the last^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



241 



CHAPTER XLII. 
Declaration of rvar, Viclcntty c-ppcsecL 

At length, on the 18th of June, 1812, war \vas declarea 
sgainBt Eni^laml, in due form, after a session of above seven 
months, and the most ardent debates. The final vo(e was car- 
ried in the senate by 19 to 13 — and in the house of representa- 
tives by 79 to 49— arfirniatives in both bouses, 08— negatives. 
62 — ihat is, more than three to two, in both houses united. 

War* then became the lav, of the land. It v,as the nam- 
mount &aiy of ali good citizens to submit to it. Even those 
v/ho doubted its Justice or ex|fedlency, and who had opposed 
its adoption, were l}ound to acquiesce; for the first principle of 
all republican government — and of all government founded on 
reason and justice, is, that the will of the majority, fairly and 
conslitutionally expressed, is to be the supreme law. To that 
the minority is sacredly bound to siibrrjit. Any other doctrine 
is Jacobinical, and disorg^anising, and seditious, and has a direct 
tendency to overthrow all government, and introduce anarchy 
j»nd civil war. If it were lawful for the minority, in the unpar- 
alleled way they did^ to oppose or paralise the government, and 
defeat its measures, on the pretest that they were unjust, such 
pretexts can never be wanting. And I aver that \SJ^itwovld 
he full as Just, as nghtcous^ as legal, and as constitutional^ for 
Mr. Holmes^ at the head cf the iimioriiy in Massachusetts^ to be- 
siege governor Strong in his house ^ and coerce Mm to retire frora 
office^ a^ it was for the Kings^ the W costers, the Hansons^ and the 
Gores, to hesii^^e president Madison cd JVasMng to7i. 

While the federalists held the reins of government, they in- 
culcated these maxims with great energy and eli'ect. The least 
opposition to law exciied their utmost indignation and abhor- 
rence. The vocabulary of vituperation Avas^xbausted to brand 
it and its perpetrators with infVimy. But to enforce rules that 
operate to our advantage, when we liave power, and to 
submit to those rules, wlien they orierate against ns, are 
widely different things. And the federalists, as I have already 
remarked, abandoned, when in the minority, the wise and salu- 
tary maxims of political economy which they had so eloqi^ently 
preached when they were the majority. 

And they were not satisfied with mere preaf^hing. They had 
occasional recourse to violence. A band of Philadelphia vol- 
li^teers, during the western insurrection, seized a printer 



24Z 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Reading by force and violence in his house, and scourged him 
in the niHikel-place for a libel, not the tvy'entietli part as viia- 
lent as those that are daily published at present with impu- 
iiitv. 

War is undoubtedly a tremendous evil. It can never be suf- 
Scientlv deph>red. It oug:ht to be avoided bv all honora'iie 
means. But there are situations which present greater evils 
4han war as an alternative. I believe this nation was pre- 
ci&e]y in that situation. We had borne ahnost every species 
of outrage, insult, and depredation. And the uniform voice of 
history proves that such base submission of nations to the atro- 
cities perpetrated upon us, inevitably jiroduces a loss of nation- 
al character, as well as of the respect and esteem of other na- 
lious— -and invites to further outrages and de|)redation, till the 
alternative finally becomes a loss of independence, or resistance 
with means and confidence impaired. 

The questions respecting the late war with Great Britain are, 
whether it was warranted bv the conduct of that nation — and 
whether, after having been duly declared by the constituted au- 
thorities, it was not the incumbent duty of the wliole nation to 
kave united in their support of it. The first of these questions 
13 of so much importance, that T shall devote to it the 44th 
chapter entire. I have alreadj^ sufficiently discussed the sec- 
end in the bes[;inHing of the present chapter. 

From the hour of the declaration of war, a steady, systemati- 
ca], and energetical Oi>position was regularly organised against 
it- The measure itseh", and its authors and abettors, were de- 
nounced with the utmost virulence and intemperance. The 
v^ixr was at first Oj}posed almost altogether on the ground of in- 
expediency and the want of preparation. Afterwards its op- 
posers rose in their denunciations. Thev asserted that it was 
irdholy—- wicked — hase — perfidious — unjust — cruel — and cor- 
rupt. Every man that in any degree co-operated in it, or gave 
aid to carry it on — was loaded with execration. It has been re- 
centl}^ pronounced in one of our daily papers to be the most 
wicked and unjust war that ever was waged.^'j<^The disregard 
of truth and of the moral sense of the reader, which such a de- 
claration betrays, is calculated to excite the utmost astonish- 
ment. Can this war for an instant be compared to the atrocious 
and perfidious v?nr waged by Bonaparte against Spain^ — to the 
treacherous war of England against Denmark, begun by a most 
lawless and unp^'ecec^ented attack ur)on the shipping and capi- 
tal of an un^endin^ neutral ? I pass over thousands cf otiie? 
'm% ta Rc es 




THE OLIVE BRANCH. 242 

CHAPTER XLin. 

Peace parly. Composed of warlike inatcnah. Repealed clamcr 

for war. 

Immediately after the declaratioa of war, there was a party 
forined called the " Peace Party," wMch combinetl nearly the 
^vhole of the federalists throughout tlie union, Tiieir olyect 
was to expose the v,ar — the adininistration — the congress who 
declared it — and all who siipported it, to reprobation— and to 
force the government to make peace. 

This party embraced various descriptions of persons, all en- 
listed under the banners of federalism, whom it may not be im- 
proper to enumerate. 

First, those -who were clamorous for war v;ith England in 
1793, for her depredations on our commerce. 

Secondly, those who declared and supported the war against 
France in 1 798. 

Thirdly, those who were vociferous for war against Spain ia 
1803, when she interdicted us from the right of deposit at New- 
Orleans. 

Fourthly, those who in 1805—6, urged the government to re- 
?i5t the aggressions of England, and to make the alternative— 
redress of wrongs or WAR. 

Fifthly, those v,ho after the attack upon the Chesapeake in 
1807, were clamorous for war, as the only mode in which satis- 
faction could be had for such an outrn2;ef>us insult. 

To enable- the reader to make a fair com|)ari3on cf the seve- 
ral degrees of complaiut at these several periods cf time, I an- 
nex a synoptical view of them. 



1793. 


1797 




IC06. 


1807. 


1812. 


ClanioU'. 

for war 
^■iiii En- 


France. 


■ lamou.- 
for war 

y.it:i 
Spain. 


Cr-iniour 
for war 

wi; v» Gr. 
Britain 


Clamour 
for war 
i^ithGr. 
Britain 


War with Grec-t Britain, 


Cdiise 


Caus& 


Cause 


Cause 


Ca'^ise. 


Cause, 


dation^ 
on com- 
znerce. 


Depre- 
dations 
on com- 
merce 

dors in- 
sulted. 
Attempt 
to extort 
money. 


Pro?iibi- 
ticn cf 
the right 
of deposit 
'It Ne^v- 
Orleans, 


Enforc?- 
nievit of 
the mh- 
of 1756. 
Impress 
merit. 


A.ttack 
on tbe 
Chesa- 
peake, 
loiores^- 

A. 

meiit. 


American vessels, ewNEi^ 

BY AMERICAN CITIZENS, LADEN 
WITH AMERICAN PRODUCTIONS, 
AND NA.yiGATED SY AMEKICABI^ 
SEAMEN, LIABLE TO SEIZURE 
AND CONDEMNATION, if bourtd 

i ) France^ Hollands or the no^rth 
•f Italy. In othpr word'!, the 
trade of the (Iiiited Slatem'itk 
?0. 000.000 ihe people of Eu- 
ro'pQ interdicted. 

Impresjiaieut, 



244 Tx4E OLIVE BRANCH. 

I hope the reader will pay particular aitentioa to this hible. 
Let him for a moment, Y>hether federalist or democrat, tlivest 
himseif* of all prejudice on this suiyect. Let him suppose 
liiiUBelf called to decide upon events of a former age or a 
distant country. Let him compare the different griev- 
ances together, and 1 trust he must acknov* ledge that those of 
1812 v ery far outweighed any or all of the others combined. 

Let us first consider the case of the suspension of the right 
of deposit at New-Orleans. On that occasion the federal party 
in congress and out of doors were loud in their clamor for war, 
rrfrjiihoid even aUoivrng time far making an attempt to prcrure 
redress hi/ ncgociation. Motions were made in congress for rais- 
ing 50,000 men to sail down the ?uississippi in order to chastise 
the insolence of the Spaniards. The government was upbraided 
for its pusliianimity ki not vindicating the national honor. — 
The cry then was — milliGns for defence ^ not a cent for In- 
hide:' 

Extract of a Jdier from the seat of goverament to a friend in Massac 

chuseiis. 

The Mississippi river is the comraoD highway to the people of the western 
country, on which they miift pa?s with their produce to market, Thiy riill 

ntmr svrffer ihii highnny to le ohdrucied or shut nv. The free navigation cf Uiia 
■deer must he preserved to that p rtlon ■fihe Anur.ca t people, or the AMERICAN 
EMPIRE MUST BE D SxME.MBERED. // t.t imd a IVakingion at ihthead 
if our government, I sh-juld expect frni, decisive measures nov.ld upon this occa- 
kon be pursutd; that a n^ilitary force sufficient to take New-Orieans, would iui- 
ir-ediatelv and without delay be assembled at the Natches, in the Missisj-ippi ter- 
ritory j that upon tlie refusal of the Spanish government, upon demand, to mini 
the treatv, that army, thns assembled, should imrjediately proceed down the riv - 
«r and take possession of J^ew-Orleans. ^rj^ But I apprehend no such vigoroir 
measures rdll he adopted by our present executive. From the reduction of the ar- 

la*t yesr, what regular troop? have we remaining to be employed in that ser- 
vice F^—^^sfon Ceniind, January 1?, 1803. 

*^ Kotwith standing the milk and nater measure? the administration has thought 
proper to adopt respecting the " Occlusion^^ of the port of New-Orleans — the 
isn^aag,e nf the peoDle on Ihe occlusion is directly ihe reverse.'" — Boston Ccnci- 
-j.c].;Feb. 16,1 SOS. ' 

Exiracl of a letter from Washingicn, 

We disapprove the timid and iime-serving measures which our goverr-- 
5ient has adopted reiativ* to the violation of our treaty with Spain : the 2t:?.tes 
which border oq the Ohio and ivlisiissippi are most immediately interest^'d i.i 
what the president calls the -'occlusion" of the port of New Orleans. On the 
. 14th, Ml'. Ross, of Fennsj Ivania, made a most able and animated speech in the 
'seaale, in which hs described in striking color? the situation of the western coun- 
trv, and rrj^ urged the necessily cf taking effectual measures for their relief, and 
in cuppor: -f national hmnr. After having spoken more than an hour, Mr. Ross 
informed the senate, that he had prepared several resolutions on the Jiibject, 
•which be asked leave to submit. The democrats immediately moved that thejal- 
l^rits should be cloared. Mr. Ross then declared, that if the discussion 7vas 
he secret^ he should offer the resolutions or make any further obsenatims on 
ihe suhj&ct. The galleries were however cleared by the mcjarity^ and the senate 



THE OLIVE BRANCH- 



245 



soon adjourned. It is understood that a grand caucus was held that evening, and 
ibe majority dreading the effect such proceedings might have on t}:e public mind, 
the next morning it was determined in senate, that the discussion should be pub- 
lic."— ^yjfon Ceniind, March 2, 1801. 

** Nothing is more contagious than esample. The meek and Icm ly spirit •which 
influences the conduct of the executive towards Spain, has infected even the arra- 
ed force on the frontier ; and the pioneers of their country, rry=> WHOSE 

SWORDS ouGrrr to leap from their scabbards to resent 

ITS INJURIES, are now seen to catch at every appearance, however evanescent, 
to promote the reign of humility. Even general Wilkii-son, who, one would sup- 
pose, would be tremblingly alive to his country's honor, and ^^T^proiid of an op- 
portunity io stimulate it t4 spirited measures— Resumes the duncet note, and with 
avidity despatches an express to inform governor Claiborne, not that the Spanish 
government had restored the United States to their right by treaty : but truly 
that the government has given permisd-^^n for the deposit of all kinds of pro= 
visions in Ne-.f Orleans, on paying six per cent, duty! / And this information, 
sayi the able and indefatigable editor of the Evening Post, is introduced by the 
words, THE PORT OF NEU'-ORt^EANS OPEN, in large capitals, by way of 
exultation at this joyous event.'* — Bsstcn Centinel, April 1 i, 1803, 

*' The president of the United States, in his late letters to the executives of th€ 
individual states, on the subject of the organization of the militia — speaking of 
he Spanish conduct at New-Orleans, says — ^' Rights (he most essential to our net- 
fare Aai"e beern violated^ and an infraction of treaty ciymmitfed nithoui color cr pre- 
text."* This being the acknowledged state of things, let the world judge, 
fT/^ nheiher the national honor mil Be more justly vindicated, and violated rights 
redressed, by the mankish appeal which has been made to Spanish faith and jus- 
tice, and French generosity and management, by the degrading solicitation for 
purchased justice, or the di-graceful proffer of a bribe — or whether these ends 
nould not more readily be obtained by the execution of the manly and spirited rnea- 
siires recommended by the eloquence of Morris, and tk& patriotism and sound tin- 
derstanding of Ross and other federalists in congress — posterity will judge. — Bos- 
ton Centinel, April 13, 1803 

While we deplore the weakness and pusillanimity of our government, we 
sincerely congratulate our we^tern brethren on the favorable change in their situ- 
ation ; and fervf ntly pray for its long continuance. Hew far we mav attribute 
this change to the spirited conduct of the federal members of congress, can- 
not al; pre;e.st be fully ascertained. We have no hesitation, however, in believ- 
ing that it has at least persuaded, if not entirely originated theoe measures." — 
Centinel, April 27, 1803. 

" Since the adoption of the federal constutition. no subject has more forcibly af- 
fected the feelings of the citizen? of the United States, than the " occlusion" of 
the port of New-Orleans by the Spanish [or French] government. It is a sub- 
ject to which the attention of tlie reader cannot too frequently be called. The 
prr^ident c/f the United States has not hesitat-^d officially to declare, that by this 
measure, ' rights the mo'st ersential to the welfare of the American people, have 
been violated, and an infraction of the treaty commitred without color or pre- 
text j" the spirit of the people has been alive to the injury - and was ready to 
make any sacrifice to redress the wrong ; — but because the federalists in congrers 
felt ti e full glow of this sj?irit ; and took the lead in proposing the necessary 
nieasures to give it efficacy : rather than they should derive my honor from their 
success, the administration having the power, substituted JTr* A FUSiLLANi- 
ISIOUS NEGOCIATiON, and degrading entreaty, for that, spirit of action which 
manly resentment for violated rights and broken faith so loudly and so justly call- 
ed for."— S^wion Ccntinel June 15, 1803. 

Louisiana purchased. 
*' The question will ever be. was the mode of getting the territory the best, the 
cheapest, the m.ost honorable for our nation ^ Is the way of cegociating cask in 

X 



246 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



?iand^ as cheap or honorable as that Mr. Ross recommended ? We eould hav^ 
had it yor nothing. ^^—Cenimel, July 2, 1803. 

Ail that we wanted od the river Mississippi was a place of deposit : that our 
treaty with Spain gives. It wa.s basely withdrawn : oar high-rpirited rulers are 
-asked to assert our rights. O, no — 80.000 militia are to be held ready to deiVnd 
our turnips and feed the pigs and cattle. BUT TO TAKE OUR RIGHT— TO 
SEIZE WHAT TREATIES GIVE, A??D FRAUD wn lUlOLDS : THlS IS 
KOT THEIR FORTE. 

A great man has been heard to say, that war in aYiy case was wrong ; and on 
the question being put, whether he would tliiiik it wrong to go to war if our coun- 
try was invaded by a foreign army, that even then, some other way might be found 
out. This is our honor's keeper, whom we have elected in tlie strange hop* that 
he will guard it better than his own 

Certainly the Jacobins do not nerd a conqueror to make them slaves. They 
are slaves in soul^ whom even our lihcTty cannot raise ; slaves are more fascinfted 
with a master's livery than their own rights : yet they expect thi^ base language 
will make them popular ^"^—Cenlind July 9, I8u3. 

AN ADMINISTRATION SO FEEBLE AND DESPIC A BLE, by what it 
can and what it cannot do, would have sunk under the competition with France: 
and a hostile neighbor on the Mississippi, would have in two years hec n our mas- 
ter. Conscious of their poverty of spirit and of Lfieans, such an ndmi.ii^tr^'tioB 
would liave resorted to the ordinary expedient oi the base to yield part of tneir 
wealth to save the remainder." — Ceniinely July 27, 1803. 

*' Like true Spaniels, we are the most servile to those who most insult u^. We 
receive back our right as a great favor, and pay tribute for that which t e de- 
spoiler could no longer withhold — the free navigation of the Misnssippi. and a 
place of deposit on its share, was our ri2;ht ; the privation of which a wiOfig; 
and A FREE \ND ENTIRE RESTORATION, OR A FORCIBLE RECOV- 
ERA' OP IT. SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE REMEDY. True patrioHsm, 
thank God, still glows, still blazes, like a seraph, in England Here it smells of 
alien. But-Great Britain must save the unRilling world, to save herself." — Cen- 
iinel, Aug 13, 1803. 

*' There is no condition of disgrnce granted below ours. In the lowest deep there 
is a lower deep. Our nation had better not exist at all, than exist by sufferance 
and under tribute."— Centime/, Aug. 23, 1803. 

Who could possibly suppose that the preceding extracts are 
from the Boston CeDtinel, owned and edited by maj'or Benja- 
min Riissel, who was lately so ardent, so zealous, so benignant 
a '^friend gj pea^^e^'' and who was among the prime leaders of 
those "-^ friends of peacep w hose pacific proceedings nearly over- 
turned the government, spread bankru^txi}'^ in every direction, 
ruined thousands and tens of thoustrnds of the best citizens in 
the country, and laid us nearly prostrate at the feet ot a vindic- 
tive and powerful enemy ? The expense of the war was of 
late, with major Russel, one of its chief ol jections. In 1803, 
he was so heroically disposed, that he urged war as " the cheap- 
jest and most honorable" mode of recovering our rights. 

Extract from the speech of Goiiverneur Morris, in the Senate of the United 
Sfates^ Feb. 16, l o03, on Mr. Ross^ resolution^ to take immediate possess^ 
ion of the island of New-Orleans, 

**Yes, sir, we wish for pj'ace ; but how is that blessing to be preserved? — 
I shall repeat liere a sentimQUt I have often had occasion to express — In my opin- 



THE OLIVE BRANCR 24T 

i<m there is nothing nmik fighting for but national honor ; for in national honor is 
involved tJie national iridepejidcnce. 1 know that a state may fiu(i itself in such 
unpropitious circums.tances, that prudt^Dce may force a wise government to con- 
ceal the sense of iadignity ; but the insuH should be engraved on tables of brass, 
with a pencil of steel, acd when that time and chance which happen to all, shall 
bring forward the favorable moment, then let the avenging arm strike home. It 
is by avowing and niainlaining this stern pjinciple of honor, that peace can be 
preserved ; he will feei with nie that our 7iational honor is the btst security for our 
•peact and prosperity ; that it involves at once our wealth and our power ; and ia 
this view of the subject I must contradict a sentiment which fell from my honora- 
ble colleague (Mr Clinton.) He tells us that the principle of this country is 
peace and commerce. Sir, the avowal of such a principle will leave us neither 
rommerce nor peace It invites Oihers to prey on that commerce which we will 
r.ot protect, and share the wealth we dare not defend. But let it be known that 
you stand ready to sacrifice the last ?nnn and the last shilling in (f^ftnce of national 
honor ^ and those who would have assaulted it, will beware of you.'''* 

Extract from Mr. Rgss^ speech, delivered in the Senate the same day as ike 

preceding, Feb. 16, 1803. 

*' Why not put a force at his (the president's) disposal, with which he caa 
sh ike? With which he can have a pledge for your future well-being ? AVhen 
the Atlantic coast is willing, shall their security be lost by your votes P Are you 
fure that you will ever again find the same disposition P Can you recal the deci- 
sive moment that may happen in a month after our adjournment P Heretofore 
you-hdve distrusted the atlantic states ; now, when th^^y offer to pledge them- 
selves, meet them, and close with the proposal. If the resolutions are too strong, 
new model them ; if the measures are not adequate, propose other and more ef- 
fectual measures. But as you value the best interests of the western country, 
?.nd the union with the Atlantic, seise the present occasion of securing it for ever. 
For the present is only a question of how much power the executive shall have 
for the attainment of this great end, and no man desirous of the end ought to re- 
fuge the necessary means for attaining it. Your votes decide the direction this 
senate will take. And I devoutly wish it may be one we shall never repent." 

The cause of complaint in 1806, was much greater than in 
1303. But it bears no comparison to the grievances in 1812. 
In IBOt), besides the lawless depredations on our vessels at sea, 
without notice, we were interdicted merely from trading with 
the colonies of the French and Spaniards on other terms than 
they permitted in time of peace. How far this was beneath the 
grievances that led to war, will appear in the next chapter. 

Let us see how far major Russel was consistent on the point 
of peace and war in 1806. 

The disputes between this country and England, so long attended with rigor 
on her part, and injury on ours, will not admit of much, longer vain complaints 
and harsh recriminations. They must terminate shoHly in the silence of war or 
peace 

At the renewal of the present war, we had proceeded for some time with all 
the ardor and zeal of good fortune We have been stopped again in our career 
by the renewal of harsh and vexatious restrictions on the part of England. She ' 
hns again appeal»=d to principles which we cannot admit, and claimed as rights, 
what wr cannot grant her even as an indulgence In tiie exercise of these assum- 
x-A rizhts. we nnd a serious source of complaint ; for it has cost us much It isj- 
how ver, nothing > ovei. It is but a renewal of the iuiuries we complained of ift-* 
' "i^.V—BoUon CentineL Feb. 5, 18G6. 



248 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



**^They [the democrats in congress] dare not resist all aggression? alike, andas*^ 
sume the part of spirited impartiality, as, a magnanimous policy requires. If war 
is called for by the insulted honor of our country — if the cup of conciliation is 
drained to the* dre^s. as thev declare it to be, (rp LET W AJl BE DECLARED 
— [i;7= LET AN EMBARGO BE LAID— adequate fund? provided— the strong 
arm of defence nerved and extended — and a powerful navy ordered. In these 
ineasures the whole country, from Georgia to Maine, convinced of their necessity, 
will bd united ''—Bcsion Ceniinel, Feb 12. 1806. 

I do not believe we ghall have war with any nation. Bui our peace will be at 
the expense of cur spiriV — Boston Centinel, March 8, 1806. 

*' Our miniiters in Europe— May they never hesitate to PREFER WAR to 
dishonor or tribute." Toast drank at the Artillery Election. From the Boston 
Centinel, June 4, 1806. 

Frcm Washinglon, Jan., 23, 1806. 

Fear^ prejudice, or some other dastardly principle, is continually crossing the 
path of our rulers : and the loud calls of our country, its commerce, and spoiled 
merchants, for energetic measures, is unheard ordi?regarded. My fears are. that 
the president's messages nill only be supported by windy debates, or pen and ink re- 
ports. 

Mr. Rand<ilph^ I am told, has very much injured his health by the exertions 
oie is said to have made during the time Jhe house was in conclave. He has not 
attesjded the house for several day.^, and is sick. From one quarter or another, 
the proceedings of the house when in secret session, are leaking out. My inqui- 
ries lead me to believe, that in the spirited measures which Randolph proposed 
for supporting the presidcnVs confidential message, he waF joined by eve^'y federal - 
Msl in the house ; by a majority of the Virginia representation., and some others ; 
but that he was in the minority ; and further, that ])e was opposed by all the New- 
Eagland democrats to a man ! ! !" — Boston Ctntinely January, 1806. 

'* Our seamen are impressed— they are captured — tliey are imprisoned — they 
are treated with almost every kind of indignity, while pursuing their lawful busi- 
T(es5 in a regular manner. How long must this be borne ? Has our government 
; to learn, thvit no nation ever r^s or ever will be respected abroad, but in pro- 
porlion cs it exacts respect by punishing wanton insults upon its dignity, and vjanlon 
depredations upon the property of its citizens ; that its doing justice to other na- 
tions cannot secure it respect, unless it has bath ability and disposition to enforce 
measures of justice fiom them, and that constant firmness of national attitude and 
conduct prevent insults, while pusillanimity invites them." — Nen^Hampskire Ga- 
sdU, July 31, 1805. 

TO WHOM IT SUITS. 

*^ Look at the situation of our sea-coast, defenceless, a prey to pickaroons, pri- 
Tateers, and armed vessels of all nations. Our ports blockaded, our coasters and 
shipping robbed, our forts insulted, our harbors converted into private depots, 
where the very vessels which rob and disgrace us, are supplied with provisions, 
stores, and God knows what ; and where it is more than probable they have their 
agents, confederates, or co-partners. See the powers of Europe acting towards 
America, as if it were meant to insult her ; or rather, indeed, sporting with her 
tameness in the eyes of the looking-on world. Disagreeing, fighting, and at en- 
niity with each other in every thing else, in this one thing they perfectly agree, 
in treating America with indignity., insult, anddei'iding contempt. 

Are you yet aware, sir, when it will end p Are you sure, that if neglected, 
it will not amount to a height too great to be reached without strainings that may 
produce fatal convulsions in the state ? For God's sake, for the honor of your 
country, for your own credit, rouse, lei loose the spirit of the country, let loose its 
money bags, and save its honor ; the nation will ons and all support ^/oti." — New- 
Hampshire Gazttte, Jan. 31, 1805. 



THE OLIVE BRANCa. 



In 1807, the cause of complaiut was still less substantial than 
in either of the other instance*. 

Not to tire the reader with proofs of the public clamors for 
war at this period, I deem it abundantly sufficient to refer him 
to the twentieth chapter of this work, wherein he will find evi-- 
dence to satisfy the most incredulous, 

I must be pardoned for declaring, that any man who was a- 
partisan of war in the above cases, and reprobates the recent 
war as unjust and unnecessary, betrays a most awful degree of 
inconsistency. And yet it is an indisputable fact, that the 
most violent, the most clamorous, the most Jacobinical, and the 
most seditious, among the late " Friends of^ Peace^^^ were among 
the most strenuous advocates for, and " Yriends of War^'' on the 
former occasions. 

The Boston Centinel, after the declaration of hostilities, 
regarded war as the most frightful of all possible evils. But 
this was HOt always its view of the subject. Within a fortnight 
after laying the embargo, that measure was pronounced more 
formidable than war itself. 

The embargo, which the £;overnmeiit has just laid, is of a new asd alarming 
nature. War^ great as the evil is, has less terror, and rMl produce less misery 

than an embargo on such principles.''^ — Boston Centinel, Jan. 2, 4808. 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

Inquiry into the justice of the war. Awful accusations against 
the govermnent. PresidenVs nussas^e. Report of committee of 
congress, British depredations. Trade of the United States 
annihilated with 50,000,000 of the inhabitants of Europe. 

Those who were unacquainted with the causes that led to 
the late war, might, from the publications that appeared against^ 
it, believe that the United States were wholly the aggressors — 
that England had been a tame and submissive sufferer of depre- 
dation, outrage, and insult — and that our rulers had been wan- 
tonly led, by inordinate and accursed ambition, to engage in a 
ruinous and destructive war, in order to enrich themselves^ — 
squander away the public treasure — and impoverish the nation* 
They were, it would appear, actuated by as unholy motives as 
ever impelled Attila, Genghis Khan, or Bonaparte, to perj)e- 
trate outrage and cruelty to the utmost extent of their ppwer^- 

X^2v 



250 



THE OLIVE BRANCH 



Tliese allegations were made ia the strongest language in the 
public papers in London. The prince regent appealed to the 
world that Great Britain had not been the aggressor in tlie war. 
And the lords of the admiralty asserted that war was declared 
cifter all the gnevmioes of this cmniry had been r-emovedy. 

The federal papers re-echoed and magnified the accusations 
of the British writers ; and succeeded so far as to indame a 
large portion of the public with the most frantic exasperation 
against the rulers of their choice, whom they suspected of hav- 
ing abused their confidence. 

Governors of states in their addresses, as well as senates and 
houses of representatives in their replies, took the same ground 
—and assumed guilt, and profligacy, and corruption, as the pa- 
rents of the declaration of war. 

The house of representatives of Massachusetts, regardless of 
the holy rule, judge net, lest you be judged,'^^ in the most un- 
qualified manner, with an utter destitution of the least sem- 
blance of charity, asserts, that 

** The real cause of the war must be traced to the first systematical abandon- 
sieit of the policy of Washington and the friends and framers of tlie cofisliLa- 
lion ; to implacable animosity against those men, and their universal excliiwoB 
from all concern in ihe governm^'nt of the country ; tp the influence of worthless 
foreigners over the press, and the delihert^tions of the government in ail its bran- 
ches ; to a jealousy of the commercial st itts,^ fear of their porver^ contempt' of 
their pursuits, and ignorance of their true cJwracier and iraportance ; to the cu- 
pidity of certain states for the wilderness reserved for the miserable aborigines j 
to a violent passion for conquest,^' &,c. 

With equal candor^ the senate of that state, not to be outdone 
by the other legislative branch, declares, that 

2;;^77ie rear rvas founded in falsehood^ declared nntkout ne cessi-h/, and its real 
elject nas extent of territory by unjust conquesiSs audio aid the late tyrant of Eiy 
.rope in his view of aggrandisement'''' 

In these awful accusations, there is no allowance for human 
imperfection — for error in judgment — ^for difference of opinion* 
They are preferred in the strongest form which our language 
admits, and involve the highest possible degree of turpitude. 

If these allegations he true, the president uho recommended 
war, and the legislature of the United States which declared it, 
have betrayed their trust, and are base, abandoned, and wicked- 
If they be false, the legislature of Massachusetts are base, aban- 
doned and wicked. Inhere is no alternative. One or other de» 
iscription of persons must sink in the estimation of cotempora- 
lies and posterity. 

* The absorditv and total want of foundation of these allegatioas I shall fully 
cstablisii ia a subsequent chapter. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



25} 



Let us examine the case. Let us investigate the truth. If 
our rulers be thus base — thus abandoned — thus wicked — thus 
corrupt — let them be devoted to the detestation they have so 
richly earned. But if the allegations be false— if the war were 
just — if the nation drank the chalice of outrage, insult, injury, 
and depredation, to the last dregs, before she had recourse to 
arms, let u&, at every hazard, cling to our rulers — to our form of 
governnient—to the national honor — to the national interest. 

The conduct of Great Britain to this country for a series of 
years, had been a constant succession of insult, aggression, and 
depredation. Our harbors had been insulted and outraged — our 
commerce had been most wantonly spoliated — -our citi- 
zens had been enslaved, scourged, and slaughtered, fighting 
the battles of those who held them in cruel L.ond-^s^e. We had, 
in a word, experienced numberless and most wanton injuries 
c^nd outrages of various kinds. But the prominent causes 
of the war, assigned by the president in that message 
which recommended, and by the committee in the report v. hich 
contained, a declaration of war, were impressment and the or- 
ders in council. I shall proceed to the examination of both 
topics. But 1 previously quote the words of the message amX 
of the report. On the subject of impressment, the president 
states, 

** The practice i« so far from p.frectm^ Britisb subipcts alone, that, under the 
pretpxt of searching for these, THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS, 
under the safeguard of public Irvt and tlieu n lional fiis, have been torn from 
their country, aad from every thing dear to them ; have been dragged on hoard 
ships of War of a foreign nation ; and exposed under the severities of their dis- 
cipline, to be exih^d to the most distant and deadly clime- j to risi: their Yiyp:- in 
the battles of their oppressors, and to be the melancholy instruments of taking 
away those of their own bretbreB.'* 

And the committee, on the same topic, state, 

" We vfili noT7 proceed to other wrongs which have been more severely felt — ■ 
Among these is THE IMPRESSMENT OP OUR SEXiMEN, a practice which 
has been unceaBino:ly maintained by Great Britain in the wars to which she has 
been a party, since our revolution. Your committee canjiot convey in adequate 
terms ikz deep smse which ihey entertain of the injustice and oppression of this py'o- 
€eedi7ig. Under the pretext of impres-sing British seamen, our fellow citizens are 
seized in British ports, on the high seas, and in every ether quarter to which the 
BritisR power extends ; are taken on board British men of war, and compelled to 
serve there as British subjects. In this mode our citizens are wantonly snatched 
from their country and their families ; deprived of their liberty; doomed to aa 
ignominious and slavish bondage ; compelled to fight the battles of pf a foreign 
country ' and often to perish in them Our flag ha? given them no protection; 
it Iras been unceasingly violated, and our vessels exposed to danger by the loss of 
the men taken from them. Your committee need not remark that while the 
practice is continued, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE UNITED ST ATES TO 
CONSIDER THEMSELVES \N INDEPENDENT N ATION. Eyerv new 
case is a proof of tiieir degrad.^tion. Its continu^ince is the more unjusriSnbie be- 
cause the United 8tcies havz repeatedly proposed to th^ British governrnQnt an ar- 



252 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



rangement which would secure to it the i.on'r i / its own people. An exempVioa 
of tiia cLuzem of the iJiiited States from tins degrading oppression, and their fiao- 
from violation, is all that they have sougiit." ' 

On the orders in counci!, the president observes, 

Under pretended blockades, without the presence of an adequate force, and 
sometimes without the practicability of applying one, OUR COMMERCE H\S 
BEEN PLUNDERED IN EVERY SEA. The great staples of our country 
have been cut off from their legitimate markets j and a destructive blow aimed 
at our agricultural and maritime interests. In aggravation of these predatory 
measures, they have been considered as in force from the date of their notifaca- 
tion ; a retrospective effect being thus added, as has been done in other import^ 
ant cases, to the unlawfulness of the course pursued And to render the outrage, 
the more signal these mock blockades have been reite; ated and enforced in the 
face of official communications from the British government declaring, as the true 
definitions of a legal blockade, that particular ports must be actually invested; 
and previous warning given to vessels bound to them, not to enter." 

^' Not content with these occasional expedients for layiag waste our neutral 
trade, the cabinet of Great Britain resor ted, at length, to the sweeping sy?lem of 
blockades, under the name of orders in council, which hag been moulded and 
managed, as might best suit its political views, its commercial jealousies, or the 
avidity of British cruisers." 

And the confimittee states, 

By the orders in council of the llth of November, 1807, 

*' The British government declared direct and positive war against the United^ 
Slates The dominion of the ocean was completely usurped by it ; all commerce 
forbidden j and every flag driven from it, or subjected to capture and condemna- 
tion, which did not subs^erve the policy of the British government by pa} iiio it a 
tribute and sailing under its sanction. From this period the United States have 
incurred ttite heaviest losses and most mortifying humiliations. They, have born^s 
the calamities of war without retorting them on its authors." 

I shaii discuss each item separately. 

1 . Orders in CounciL 

To repel the charge of the war being founded in falsehood^'^ 
so far as resperts this item, it would be sufficient to est iblish 
Iheir existence on the day war was declared. This is obvious. 
For if they existed, then the war could not he ''fowidediiz 
falsehood.'''* But I shall not rest satisfied with this alone. 

War was declared at Washington on the 18th of June, 1812. 
The repeal, as it is called, of the orders in council, took place 
on the 23d of that month in London. It is clear, therefore, 
that the charge of falsehood here is utterly unfounded. 

By an official statement presented to congress by the secre- 
tary of state on the 6th of July, 1812, it appears that the Brit- 
ish captures, prior to the orders in council, were 528, and sub- 
sequent thereto 389. 

It is difficult for me to form an estimate of the value of these 
vessels. I am no merchant, and have no adequate data to 



THE OLiVE BRANCH. 



g'lide me. I have inquired of mercantile characters, aud have 
been told, that from the great value of the cottons, tohaccoes, 
Szc. of 'the outward cargoes to France, and the silks, brandies, 
Szc, of the homeward cargoes, 30 or 49,000 dollars would be a 
fair average. But I will suppose $ 25,000 for vessel and car- 
go, which I presume is not extravagant. This extends to the 
enormous amount of $ 13,200,000, 

depredated previous to the orders in council; and 

$ 9,725,000 

during the existence of those orders ; for the latter of which 
there was not the least chance of redress. 

The sum of which our feliow-citizens were despoiled, by no 
means constitutes the w hole of the grievance. The enormous 
limitation and lestriction of the trade of a sovereign and inde- 
pendent nation, v as at least of equal magnitude in point of out- 
rage, with the pecuniary loss ; for it is a sacred and indisputa- 
ble truth, that from Nov. II, 1807, till the day war was de- 
clared, [Tf J^nerican ships ^ ^TT" oivncd hy A merican merchants^ 
[U^ navigated hy American seamen^ and \XJ^ laden with American 
producticns^ were liable to seimre and CGndem7iation [I^ if 
bciind to France J Holland, or the northern part of Italy, 

I implore the reader, by all that is candid, to consider this 
single sentence. Let him read it once more carefully. It is a 
fair statement of the relative situation of the two countries. — 
[^The comtnerce cf the United States with nearly one third of 
the population of Europe was subject to condemnation ! Let him 
lay his hand on his heart, and answer the question, was not 
this adequate cause for war ? Was not this a greater grievance 
than the sixpenny tax on tea, which led to the American rev- 
olution ? Have not more than nine-tenths of all the wars that 
have ever existed, been declared for less causes ? We were 
forbidden by Great Britain, [TT* under penalty of confiscation, to 
carry on trade with [Tj^ cJ)ove fifty millions of the intuibitanis of 
Europe, And yet we are gravely told, " the war was founded 
in falsehood ! ! !" Wonderful, wonderful delusion ! ! 

[TT^ At that period England herself carried on with France and 
her dependencies, Tinder licenses, rcf" the very trade which she ren- 
dered illegal when carried on hy the United States t ! ! And seve- 
ral American vessels, hound for France, and taken hy British crui- 
scrs, were actually, ^ n)ii]iout breaking hulk, taken into French 
ports by the captors, or those n)ho purchased from them ! !1 

Having presented to the reader a short specimen of the de- 
imnciations <»f the war, I lay before him s®aie opinions of a di** 
rectly^ contrarv tendencv. 



254 



THE OLIVE BRANCH 



The first authoiity is highly exalted and respectable. It h 
no less than the emperor Alexander. This monarch, in the 
very commendable offer of his mediation, declares, that 

^ Hh majesty takes pleasure in doing justice to the wisdom of the United 
States ; and is convinced that rrj=> it has done all that it could, to avoid this rup- 
ture."' 

The next anthority is Governor Plmner, of Nev,'*Hampshire, 
%vho in a short speech to the legislature of that state, Nor. 18, 
1812, states that Great Britain 

Has for a series of years by her conduct evinced a deadly hostility to our 
national rights, to our commerce, ptace and prosperity. She has wantonly im- 
pressed thousands of our unoffending seamen ; immured them within tlie walls of 
her floating castles ; held them in servitude for an unlimited period, ofteja 
for life ; and compelled tkem to fight, not only with nations with whom we were 
nt peace, but to turn their arms against their own country. She has violated the 
lights and peace of our coasts ; wantonly shed the blood of oar citizens in our 
harbours ; and instead of punishing has rewarded her guilty ofl[icers. Under 
pretended blockades, unaccompanied by the presence of an adequate force, she 
has unjustly deprived us of a market for the products of our industry ; and, by 
her orders in council has, to a great extent, swept our commerce from the ocean *. 
thus assuming a right to regulate our foreign trade in war, and laying a foucda- 
lion to prescribe law for us in time of peace. She has permitted her subjects 
publicly to forge and vend our ships' papers, to carry on a commerce with that 
very enemy from whose ports she interdicted our trade. Whilst lier accredited 
jninister, under the mask of friendship, was treating with our goviriiment, her 
spie? were endeavoring to alienate our citizens, subvert our government, ainl dis- 
BQ ember the unioa of the states." 

The senate of Massachusetts, June 26, 1812, agreed upon an 
address to the people of that state, of which I subjoin two para- 
graphs — • 

" "We will not enter into a detail of the injuries inflicted on us, nor of the fiim- 
sy pretexts by which Great Britain has endeavouied to justify her outrages, It 
is suScient to say, that she no longer pretends to disguise her ambitious designs, 
under pretence of retaliation on her enemy She asserts her right to unbounded^ 
dominion, only because she as-umes unbounded power. She annexes conditions 
to the repeal of her orders in council, which =ht' knows we have no right to re- 
quire of her enemy — which s'le knows are impossible — thus adding insult to in- 
jury — thus adding mockery to her long train of perpetrated injuries Wiik ths 
boldness of the kighwayman, she has, at last, stripped the mask from violence, and 
vindicates her aggressions on the only plea of tyrants, that of whim and conven- 
ience. 

** It was not sufficient that we were remote from European politics, and courted 
peace under every sacrifice ; acquiesced in minor injuries : remonsi^ratf^d against 
those of a deeper die : forbore until forbearance became pusillanimity ; and fnally 
retired from the scene of controversy, witti the delusive l.ope that a spirit of mod- 
eration might succeed th^t of violence and rapine. Wt nere hunted on the oceans 
Our property was seized upon by the convulsive g:r3sp of our now open and ac- 
knowledged eneaiy . and our citizens forced into a cruel and ignominious vassalage. 
And when we retired we were pursued to the threshold o- our territory — outra- 
ges of an enorriious cast, perpetrated in our bays and harbours ; the tomahawk of 
the savage uplifted against the parent, tiie wife, the infanty on our frontiers j and 



tHE OLIVE BRANCH. 



255 



^piesand incencliaries sent into the bosom of our country, to plot the .lisraember- 
ment of our urjion. and involve us in all the horrors of a civil war. 

The constituted a«tliOrities of the Uhited States in congress assembled, sub- 
mitting the justic'-: of their c:^use to the God of battles, have at length declared 
war against this implacable foe ; n v:ar for the liberty of our citizens ; a nurfor 
our national SGvtrdgnty and indtpend^nce ; a war fur vur republican form of gov- 
crnment against the nuich' nations of desp^jtismV 

-On (he 26(h of December, 1 81 1, the legislature of Ohio, pub- 
lished a resolution and address on the sul^ject of our foreign re- 
lations, in which they pledi^ed themselves to a full support of 
4he government, in the event of a decla ation of wur. This 
pledge they have nobly redeemed. I submit one parapraph of 
the address. 

" The condnct of Great Britain towards this country is a gro?? departure from 
ihe known and established laws of nations Our rights, as ^ell those derived 
through the immemor'al u=age.- of nations, as those secured by compact, have 
l)een outraged withou-: acknowk-dginpnt- even without remorse Solemn stipu- 
lations by treat}' and implied enga^iiements. have ;Tiveu place to views ol n-n over- 
reiiching, selfish, and d^^praved policy Lfe, liberty and pr?perty, have been thf 
sp-irt rf mecfmr- 'f iirjust. crud and ivitkout i pa^rallel. The flag of freedoni and 
of impartial neutrality has been wantonly insulted. Tears of the nidons and or^ 
phrrt'i qf murd rp.d Americans have jhned in vaiti. Our countrymen have been 
toiiD from the embrace of liberty and plenty The ords of conjugal, filial, fra- 
ternal, and parental affectioxj. have been hi oken Q;;^^ jAmoU every sea and 
cecn buoys upon its surface he victims of capture an-j impressment. Vain is eve- 
ry effort and sacr^ce for an honourable state of Safety and tranquillity. JNIissioii 
has followed mi??ion — remor.strance has succeec'rd remonstrance — forbearance 
has steppM on the heels of forbearance, till the mind revolts at the thought of a 
prolon;?ed endurance. Will the freemen of a still favored soil unresistingly groau 
under the pressure of such ignominy and insult F'' 

The fcenate of Maryland, on the 22d of Dec. 1812, passed a 
set of resolutions J approving of the war, from which I subjoin 
an e^tracto * 

VVhenever lie pursuit of a pacific policy is rendered utterly ijiconsistent with 
the national interest, prosperity and happiness, by the unprovoked injuries mid 
InwUis outrrges of a foreign power ; whenever those rights are assailed, without 
the full and perfect enjoyment of which a nation can no longer claim the chai-ter 
and attributes of sovereignty and independence j whenever Ihe right of a free 
people to navigale the common highway of nations, for the purpo-?e of transport- 
ing and vending tiie surplus products of their soil and industry at a foreign market, 
is attempted to be controlled and subjected to such arbitraiy rules and regula- 
tions as the jealousy or injustice of a foreign power m^'y think proper '^^o pre- 
scribe ; whenever their citizens, in the exercise of thdr ordinary occupniions and 
laboring to obtain the means of subsistence for themselves and their fanalles, ore 
torn by tki ruthless hand of violence from their covntty. their conneociorts, and 
thdr homes / whenever the tender tie^ of parent snd cliild of hu?band and wife, 
are wholly disregarded by the inexorable cruelty nf the unfeeVng oppre^.'^or. who 
usurping the high prercgadve of heaven, and anticipating the dread office of 
death, converts those sacred relations unto a premature orphanage and widow- 
hood — not that orphanage and widowhood whicti *• sprinz froin thr grave" unless 
ihe floating dungeons into which they are cast, and compdled fo fghf ihe bnftle^ of 
their oppressors^ may be compared to the awful and ghomy mandon" of the tomb ; 
whenever injuries and oppressiona, such as these, are inflicted by a foreign po\yer^ 



256 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



upon the persons and properties of our citizens, p.nd an appeal io the justice of 
iuck pon er to obfain redress proves wh Aly useless and unavailing ; in such cases 
it is tiie duty of those to whom the sacred Iru^t of prcteciiiig the n?:hts of the 
citizen and honour of the nation, is confided, to take such measures as the exigen- 
cy of the case may require, to protect the one, and vindicate the other : Tliere- 
fore 

Resolved that the rvar Pjagtd by the Unifed States against Great Britain, is 
just, necessary and politic ; onght to be iupporttd by the united strtn^^tk and re- 
sources p/the nation^ until the grand ohject is obtained for nhizh it rvas^ declared,'^ 

CHAPTER XLV. 

Consideration of the Orders in Council continual. Strong and 
unequivocal reprohation of than hy James Lloyd and James 
Bayard^ Esqrs. and Governor Gnswold, Extract of a letter 
from Harrison Gray Otis^ Esq, 

I MIGHT have dismissed this part of my subject with the 
last chapter. But as it is of vital importance — as Great Brit- 
ain and the United States are at issue on it in the face of an 
anxious and enquiring world, whose judgment we await on the 
subject — I judge it advisable to enter into it more fully. 

The only defence ever attempted of these outrageous pro- 
ceedings is on the principle of " retaliation,'^ This is com- 
pletely invalidated by Mr. Barinsr, page 126. It is also une- 
quivocally abandoned by the most prominent and influential 
leaders of the federal party. 

James Lloyd, Esq. senator of the United States for the state 
of Massachusetts, a most decided federalist, a steady, undeviat 
ing, and zealous opposerof the administration ^nd of all its 
measures, has nronounced sentence of condemnation, in the 
most unequivocal terms, upon the pretence of retaliation, in a 
speech delivered in senate on the 28th of February, 1812. 

And how is it possible, thai a third and neutral party can make itself a 
fair object of retaliation^ for measures iihich it did not counsel — uhich it did 
not approve — ivhich militate strongly with its interests — which it is and ever 
has been anxiously desirous to remove — which it has resisted by every means 
in its poiver, that it thought expedient to use, and of these means the govern^ 
meni of the neutral count ry ought to be the sole judge— which it has endtav' 
cured to get rid of even, at great sacrifices ! — how is it possible that a neu- 
tral country, thus conducting, can make lis ef a fair object of retaliafion for 
measures ivhich it did not orisinaic-^ivhich it could not prevent, and cannot 
eon/roZ /—Thus, sir, to my view, the ORDERS IN COUNCIL AKE 
WKOLT.Y UNJUSTIFTABLE, LET THEM BE EOTTOMI D 
EITHER ON THE PRINCIPLE OF RETALIATION, OR OF 
SELF-PRESERYATION." 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 25? 

From Mr. Lloyd's authorifj on (his topic I presume there 
V ill be no appeal. There cannot be. His decision is finai.— 
But I am ttot conlined to Mr. Lloyd. Mr- Bayard, a gentle- 
man of equal standing, a quondam senator of the United States 
from the state of Delaware, one of onr late commissioners at 
Ghent, also a decided federalist, pronounced the same sentence 
on them— in a speech delivered in the senate of the United 
States, October 31, 1811 — 

Ti.ey were adopted as a measure of retaliation, though rri= thej^ never de- 
served that character He had always considered the Berlin'^nj Milan decrees 
.3:7= u-ed as a mere pretext. Those decrees were vain and empty denunciation*^ 
in I :^]on to Liigland The plain design of the British government wa« n-^ to 
deprive France of the benefits of external cotnmercp, UNLESS TRP tt^- 
IT^ OF IT WERE TO BE DIVIDED UTTH HERSELF. rr^Thl' was 
fully proved by the licence trade, Britain carries on the veri'^de s-e de 

nies to neutrals, and having engrossed the whole to herself, she exdudes Deutrql«i 
Irora a participation. 

1 am amonj the last men in the senate who would ju-tify or d. fend thp 

^^^Jl~'-V?^^ ^'^PV^'^^.'^"^ PL^IXEST RIGHTS OF THE 
u • ^; . -"7^^. ''^ g^^u^d of retaliation was never more than a pretext and 
their plain ohjeci is to deprive France of neiitril trade. It never was contended 
nor does Britain now contend, that she would he justified by the laws or u^aaes of 
nat'ons to interdict our commerce with her f^n^mv. She roVPR*^ WPp" i\r 
JUSTICE WITH THE CLOAK OF RETALIATION, andl^^i.^. tlfat^^ 
t.as a right to retort upon her enemy the evils of his own policy —This is a doc 
trine to which I am not disposed to agree— IT IS DESTRUCTIVE TO NEU^ 
J. RALS. It mp-kes them the prev of the beUi^l^eronts 
*'IT 13 A DOCTRINE WHICH WE MUST RESIST." 

In addition to the authority of Messrs. Lloyd and Bavard 
I beg leave to adduce that the late sjov^rnor of Connecicnt' 
Roger Griswold, Esq. ^vhich, thondi liot quite so unequivocal' 
IS SMfScientiy strong to satisiy every candid reader. ' 

On the 10th of October, ICll, eieht months previous to the 
declaration of Tvar, Governor Gris^vold, in an address to the 
Legislature, drew a strong portrait of the injustice of the belli- 
gerents towards us, and of the necessity of abandonino; the 
pacific policy ^vhich our government had pursued, and adopt- 
ing vigorous and decisive nieasures to enforce respect for our 
rights. 

f-lw^inX?' foprsnea policy, which has rendered us cott- 

r.TJi r K % °' ^'^'Vfi'" ■ are treated as a peop'e « ho are 

M 7^^^^^^^ a course a, shall 

cient organized force, and SPIRIT TO T'^P t wt-to ^ir^rA^^^ isasuffi- 
other honourable .ea'n. of red'res'sU^e to! '™ eS'IV^.^'ur^^ 



258 



THE OLIVE BRANCH 



aided by the geographical situation of our country, have furni^lied every ntrcF- 
5arv means for defending our territorv and our commerce: and WE ARE 
FALSE rO OURSELVES, WHEN EITHER Ti. e our territory or our 
.<!ommerce,] iS hWADED WITH IMPU.\1TY." 

No dispassionate render can deny that Governor Gris^Aold 
in this speech makes very strong and unequivocal declaration 
of the necessity of vigorous, and decisive, that is to say, war- 
like measures. It is impossible otherwise to interpret the im- 
pressive style in which he invokes the " spirit to use the organ- 
ised force with effect — and the declaration that Tve are false to 
ourselves when we allow our commerce or our ierriton/ to be inva^ 
ded with impuniiy,^'' 

On the 12th of May, 1812, only five weeks before the decla- 
ration of w-ar, the Legislature of Connecticut met again. Gov- 
ernor Grisw^old addressed them once more on the same subject. 
He explicitly decL^red, that 

" i'^^ l^^i -^'^ 'inonihs do not appear to have produced any change in 
the hostile aggressions of foreign nations cn the commerce of the Uiiited 
States:' 

And after referring to, and justly reprobating the burning of 
our vessels by the Frenchj he emphatically adds, 

Such^ however^ has been the character of both, thai NO CIRCU3I- 
^TAiSCE CAN JUSTIFY A PREFERENCE TO EITHER.'> 

I beg the reader will give these documents a due degree of 
consideration. It appears that Governor Griswokl, on the 10th 
of October, 1811, unequivocally pronounced an opinion, that 
the as^o-ressions of Great Britain and France Avere of such a na- 
lure as to warrant resistance by war. Be denounced the pa- 
cific policy we had pursued as rendering us " contemptible in 
th^ eyes cf for elm nations^''^ who in consequence regarded " us 
CIS a people ready to submit to every indignity which interest or 
caprice might impose upon He called upon the govern- 

ment io change its system, and to convince foreign nations, 
that " 7ve have the 7?iea?is and the spirit to resent foreign aggress- 
ions.^'' — And finally declares " 7ve are false to ourselves when we 
suffer our com^mrce or our terriiory to he invaded ivith impunity. '^^ 
Seven months afterw^ards, he reviews these declarations, and 
states that " no circumstance could justify a preference to either'''' 
France or England, both had so grossly outraged our rights. — 
And yet, reader, what mnst be your astonishment to be told, 
that thi^ same Governor Oris wold, immediately after war was 
declared, which his speech appears to have urged, arrayed him- 
self among and was a leader of the ''-friends ofpcace^^'' who de*^ 
nouDiced the war as wicked, and unjust and unholy ! ! ! 



THE OLITE BRANCE. £59 

I might have rested the cause oa the united testimony of Mr. 
Lloyd, and. Mr. Bayard, and Governor Griswoid. They are 
fully sufficient for my jsurpose. No candid or honest man can 
i-esi'st them. They all with concurring voice establish the 
strong, tlie decisive fact, that there was ample and adequate 
cause of war. But regarding the subject as of immsnse and vi- 
tal importance, I am determined " to maJce assurance douhbf 
mrc,'' I therefore solemnly cite before the public another evi- 
dence, stiii more powerful, still more overwhelming, to prove 
that the war w as not founded in falsehood— to prove that it was 
both just and righteous. 

This evidence is the honorable Harrison Gray Otis, Esq. a. 
gentleman of considerable talents, great wealth', high standing, 
and most powerful influence in the state of Massachusetts, who 
has acted a very conspicuous and important part in the extra- 
ordinary events of our era. He was formerly a senator of the 
United States — recently a member of the legislature of Massa- 
chusetts — one of the principal movers of the appointment of, 
and a delegate to, the Hartford Convention ; (which legislature 
and convention denounced the war as unjust, and wicked, and 
profligate) — and finally one of delegates to Washington, to ne- 
gotiate with the president on ths part of the eastern states. It 
is hardlv necessarv to add — but I shall be pardoned, I trust, for 
adding, that there is not in the United States a more uniform, 
imdeviating, and zealous opposer of the party in power — a more 
decided anti-gallican— or a citizen less disposed to censure Eng- 
land or her me^<sures unjustly, than Mr. Is. 

This gentleman, on the 14ih of January, 1812, addressed to 
' — a friend m Lon<ion, a letter on the relations of the two nations 
which displays no snaall share of public spirit, and breathes a most 
fervent desire for the repeal of the orders in council, in order 
to remove the indignation and abhorrence they excited in the 
United States. 

This letter was pulDlished in London ; and, had not the coun- 
sellors of his Britannic majesty been most fatally and egregious- 
iy misguided, would have produced an imaiedlate and decisive 
effect, and saved the two countries from the horrors of war= 
fare. 

One of the democratic paper.- in Eostoo, I believe the Pat- 
riot, republished the letter, with comments injurious to Mr. Otis, 
of which I have a very in^perfect recollection. They appear- 
ed to me ill-founded at the time. M^jor Russel, editor of the 
€entinel, admitted the authenticity of the letter, which he re» 
published ; girded on his armour ; and fully defended the wri 
^l?r. 3j}d bis^ proxluetion. He proved to the salLsiiiCtioii of tlm 



2C0 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



public, that no inference could fairly be drawn from that com- 
muiiication, inculpating the moral or political character uf Mr. 
Otis, vvho, on the contrary, deserved applause for the part he 
took in this affair. The ideas of the editor of the Centinel 
were just and correct. These views are given from memory. 
But the strong: impression the affair made on my mind at the 
time, convinces me that they are es^ntially just. 

With these explanations I sul>mit the letter to the reader, 
whom I beseech to give it due attention. It will bear thrice 
reading. On the subject I am discussinq:, it is final and decis- 
ive. Never was there a more irresistible document. 

Exiratiof a.kUcr from Ilarrbon Gray Olis, Esq. to afrknd in London ^ 

daiid Bu6lon, Jan. U, 18ii. 

You will perceive hy the pp.prrs that our Tovpriiinent profess the intend *on 
to assvimc a very warlike attitude ; ar d that the rrj-^ .-juliii t-nt of indigu.ition 
itUougSiout the c</uutry at tlie coutitiuition of theordeis in councii IS J.Ol'D 
AND UNIVEKSAL'FROM BOTH PARTIES ! The motive^ which indue- 
your eoverumcnt to coatiuue tiiem. are quite incomprehensible to the BE:>T 
FRIENDS of Great Britain in this ciMiulry ; and tiie effect will be to mAe ev- 
ery ir ui ODIOUS who dares to express a wish for \our success aod prosperity ; 
a sentiment still common to our best men, bat wiiich an adherence to ihis fyatciu 
will iiTipaii- and destroy. 

It is too true, that tlie repeal of the Berlin and Mii?n d< crees has been lefs 
formal than it should have been ] and that our administration have become wil- 
ling dupes to the insidious policy of Napoleon. 

But why should vour government mind that? Why should they not embrace 
?xDy pretence for re?iorin<5 harmony between our two countries, especially as it 
will of consequrnce be followed by hostility on the part of France I' Napoleon 
will renew his outrage? the moo]eDt we are friends ; and the natural ties wliicii 
''ement Great Bi ituiu and America will be drawn closer. On the contrary, the 
scrupulous adlierence of your cabinet to an empty punctilio, will too probc.hly 
unite the wiiole country in opposition to your natiou. and sever for geiierauons, 
perhaps for ever, interests which have the most natural afniiitT, and MEN WHO 
OUGHT TO FEEL AND LOVE LiXE ERETKB-EN.'* 

Let us canvass this pre(?ious document attentively. It is 
fraught with meaning, and flashes conviction. Every sentenc 
is of vital importance. Mr. Otis states, that "'the s{niitiiail c; 
indignation against the ordtrs in council was loud and u?nversai 
from boih parties.^' This declaration from such a quarter is 
overwhelming — it is irresistible. It proves the strong sense 
prevalent of the outrage and injustice of the orders in coun- 
ciL The concurrence of bolh parties, who so rarely a- 
gree in any point, demands particular attention. And siirelv 
Mr. Otis himself, or Mr. Pickering, or 3.1r. King, will not deny 
that it is fair to infer that he must have regarded the orders in 
council as unjust, and wicked, and oppressive, and piratical, 
and utterly indefensible, when he candidly confesses, that a 
continuance of them would " produce the effect to render any 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



261 



7nan odious who dared to express a wish far the success and pros- 
pcrity'*'* of Great Britaio. 

Mr. Otis deprecated a war ^vitli England as one of the migh- 
tiest evils. He appears to have regar»led these orders as not 
merely cause of war — but as likely to produce war, if coatii> 
iied. 

What language shall I use, reader, to fix your attention to 
this most solemn part of my subject ? Mr. Otis is so thorough- 
ly imj)ressed with a conviction of the injustice of the orders in 
council, that he explicitly states to his correspondent, that the 
" sentiment of indignation throughout the country ^'^ at their con- 
tinuance, " is loud and universal from both parties^'' and that 
" the effect of their continuance will he to render odious every man 
who dares to express a wish for the mccess and prosperily of Eng- 
land'''' — and further, that "an adherence to an empty punctilio wiil 
sever the two nations perhaps for ever,'''' Let it be observed that 
these declarations were made January 14, 1812, cnly five 
months before the declaration of war — and further, that no al- 
teration or mitigation cf the rigor of those orders had taken 
place when war was declared. When these points are duly 
weighed, let the reader consider that this same Harrison Gray 
Otis was one of the prime movers of a seditious, I might say a 
treasonable opposition to the war, on the ground of its having 
been " profligate and unjust." It is impossible for language to 
do justice to the astonishment these reflections are calculated 
to excite. Mr. Otis was a member of the senate of Massachu- 
setts in February, 1814, when a report of both houses declared, 

that war, so fertile in calamities, was waged with the worst 
possible views^ and carried on in the worst possible manner^ form- 
ing an union of weakness and wickedness^ which defesfor a par» 
allel the annals of the world! //" 

Here I close this part of the discussion. It were superflu- 
ous to add a line. The reader will have no difficulty to de^ 
eide. 

A few more strong facts, and I shall have done. 

On the 18th of December, 18t)8.. a vote was taken in the 
house of representatives of the United States, on the following 
resolution : 

Resolved, That the Ualted States canBot, without a sacrifice of their rights, 
honor, and independence, submit to the late edicts of Great Britain and France, 

^xid decided in the affirmative as follows — yeas 118 — nays 2. 

Yeas — Messrs. Alexander, W \lston. L. Alston, Bacon, Bard, Baker. Bas- 
sett Blackledsje. Blake, Biount, Boyd. Boyle, Brown, Burweli, Butler, Calhoun, 
Campbell Champion, Chitienden, Clay, Clopton, Culpepper, Cutts, Davenport^ 
Dawson, De-^/ie, Des^ha, Durell, Ellliot, Ely, Findley, Fisk, Franklin, Gardner, 
Oaraet, Gholson^ Goodwyn, Gray, Green, Harris, Heister, Helmsj HoilaiJ^ 

¥ 2 



262 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Holmes, Howard, Humphreys, Isley, J. G. Jackson, R. S. Jackson, Jenkiuji, 
Johnson, Jones, Kelly, Kenan, Key^ Kix'-kpatrick, Lambert, Lewis, Lloyd, Ma- 
con, Marion, Masters, M'Creery, dlilnor, D. Montgomery, J. Montgomery, N. 
R Moore, T.Moore, Jer. Morrow, Jno. Morrow, Moselij, Miimford, iVelson, 
Neivliold^ Newton, Nicholas, Pitkin^ Porter, Quincy^ Randolph^ Rea, Rhea, j. 
Richards, M. Richards, Russel, Say, Seaver, Shaw, Sloan, Smelt, Smilie, J. K. 
ismith, J. Smith, Southard, Stanford, Stedman, Store r, SturgeSy Taggart, Tail- 
madge, Taylor, Thompson, Trigg, Tr' up, Upham, Van Allen, Fan Corllandt^ 
Van Horn, Van Rensselaer, Verplanck, Wharton, Whitehill, VV^iibour, Williams, 
A. Wilson, N Wilson, Winn.— 118. 

Nays. — Messrs. Gardenier, Hoge. — 2.*' 

This is a vote of immense importance in the decision of the 
question which I iiave been discussing. One hunidred and 
eighteen members, out of one hundred and twenty, Iiave recor- 
ded their deliberate opinion that " to submit to tlie edicts of G. 
Britain and France ^^"^ would be " a sacrifice of the rights, honor, 
and independence'^ of the United States. 

Our government had used every conceivable peaceable 
means to induce Great Britain to revoke her orders in council, 
to w hich, according to those gentlemen, we could not submit, 
without "a sacrifice of our rights, honor, and independence.'* 
But every effort had been in vaiu. The orders in council re- 
Oiained unrevoked. 

Yet many of these gentlemen, thus solemnly pledged and 
committed, voted against the war, as unjust, and unholy, and 
-^vicked ; and spared no pains to excite a seditious, a treasona- 
ble oppposition to it, on the pretext of that injustice and wick- 
edness ! 

Can the iiuman mind conceive a stronger and more indefensi- 
ble contradiction than this ? It is impossible. 

The war was in resistance of the orders in council, and ac- 
cording to these gentlemen w as a war to prevent " a sacrifice of 
the rights, honor, and independence of the United States." — 
And if ever w^ar can be just and holy, it is surely then just and 
holy, when it is waged in defence of the rights, honor^ and in- 
dependence of a nation." 

I cannot allow myself to believe, that I shall have a single 
reader who will doubt or deny the correctness of this inference. 
It is irresistible. These gentkmen are fairly committed in the 
lace of their country, and of all Christendom. 

It mav be said, and has been said ten Uioiisand times, that the 
same pledge was given on the gii':j€ctx)f the Frencli decrees; 
and that w^ar ought to have been declared against one nation as 
well as the other. To this there are two replies. One, that 
the French government did repeal its decrees, although in a 
'very ungracious and uncourteoas manner. But ungracious, vHnd 
lauscourteous, and indecorous as it was, thej were repealed— 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



That this was the fact, I appeal to Mr, Otis. Re has co»ip]ete- 
\y settled this point for ever. On the 14ih cf Jauucii} , 1812^ 
as we have seen, ia a conQdential letter to a friend, he declar- 
ed, not that the decrees v^ere unrepealed— but that ''the repeal 
was less formal than it shmld have beenJ^^ The rciider who doe^ 
not find that this is a decisive admission that they were actual- 
]y repealed, must be wilfully blind. 

The other reply embraces an important fact. When the 
question of war against Great Britain was under discussion in 
congress, Mr. M'Kee, of Kentucky, HT^" for a dcclaraiion 
of 7var against France cls well as her enemy. The motion, on a. 
division of the house, was negatived by a very large majority. 
Ten members only* voted in the affirmative, of whom HT^ ^et;- 
en were democrats — and !iy hut three federalists ! All the ether 
federalists voted in the negative! This for ever closes the clam 
or on the subject of tiie propriety of declaring war against 
France. 

Here I make a solemn pause. The orders in council were, 
as we have seen, one of the most prominent groun'Js of war.— 
1 have established their existence and their flagitious injustice 
at the time of that declaration. Yet the senate of Massachu- 
setts has declared that " the war n)as founded in falsehood n 

When I stated the enormous transit duty the British ministry 
attempted to collect for fXJ^ permission to trade with France^ I 
mentioned, that to such an extravagant lei^gth was their viola- 
tion of neutral rights and of our independent soTereignty car- 
ried, that, wonderful to tell, they affected to coRslder the per- 
mission to trade on these terms, as a special fctvor! Lest the 
reader might doubt or disbelieve this astonishing, this mon- 
strous, this dishonorable, this uKparalieied fact, I give him the 
most unequivocal authority— the celebrated Francis James. 
Jackson. This gentleman, in a letter to the secretary of state, 
dated Oct, 11, 1809^ expressly states — 

*' Q^T^ riie option given to ne-atrals to trade with the eneankE: m Great Brit • 
>lnthvoijgh British ports ON PAYMENT OF \ TRANSIT DUTY, was ori- 
jinaliy devised and intended as a MITIGATION of wLat is certainly more cor- 
rect, but niorerl^id in principle— THE TOTAL AND UNaUALIFiED IN- 
TERDlCTiON OF ALL I RADE WITH THE ENEMY ! i " 

There is one point of view m which ths pretensions of Eng» 
l/indo<jght to be Goiv^idered, to show their palpable and Srhock- 
inz injustice, their utter disregard of the rights of this nation^ 

* See this fact stated in the sp^ch of ISfr Clay, speaker of the house of repre- 
sentatives «f tbe Ucited States, Jacaary 8j iai3, We^kW Eeght^r, voIuEue iii*. 
page 372. 



2§4 



THE OLIVE BRAXCH, 



and their total departure from the most solemn professions pre- 
viously made. 

By these professions England had pledged herself to repeal 
the orders in council as soon as the Berlin and Milan deciees 
Vfeve re[>ealed, so far as those decrees atfected our intercourse 
wiih England. We had no right to dtm-ind of France to 
further than this in her repeal. It \\ould h::ve been the ni( st 
arrogant presumption for our government to have [iresciibed to 
France any regulation of such parts of her trade as \^e were 
not interested in. Yet England did require a rej)eal of her de- 
crees as they affected her trade with other nations, as a tine qua 
non to the repeal of the orders as they affected the trade of the 
United States. 

This has been repeatedly denied, and with the utmost confi- 
dence. But denial is not disproof. And unfortunately for the 
friends of England, the f.ict has become m atter of historical re- 
cord. It is to be found in a document of the most indisputa- 
ble authenticity. On the 10th of June, 1812, onl}^ eight driys 
before the declaration of war, Mr. Foster, the British minister 
at Washington, wrote a letter to our government, in which 
this idea is distinctly aad unequivocally avowed in the follow- 
ing w ords : 

*' I have DO hps'tation, sir, in saying, that Great Britain, as the case has hither- 
to stood, never did, nor ever could enga2;e, without the grossest injustice to her- 
se'f Hiid her allie*. a? we]l as to other neutral nations, to repeal her orders, as 
affecting America a: one, leaving tiiem in force against other f«tHte>5, upon a condi- 
tion that France would except, singly and specially, America from the operatioQ 
of her decrees." 

Whatever reprobation the system here avowed loudly calls 
for on the ground of its tlagrant injustice, we must approve the 
candor of Mr. Foster, which clothes it in al! its genuine and 
intrinsic deformity, and holds it up to the abhorrence of the 
fair and ujmght part of mankind of all nations. 

England at this time stood pledged to this country by repeat- 
ed declarations, promulgated with the utmost solemnity, to pro- 
eeed pari passu with France. But notwithstanding solemn 
pledges so often reiterated, she at last fairly comes out with her 
declaration, that the repeal of the decrees as affecting America 
was to produce no eifect on the orders in council as affecting 
this country. . That is, as plainly as can be, th it unless 
we could prevail on France to cease the operation of her de- 
crees upon British trade generally, we had no reason to hope 
for a relaxation of the rigor and injustice of her orders in coun- 
cil. This is a new espianation of a pciri pa^su^ and would of 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



265 



itself, had it stood alone, afforded full justification of the decla- 
ration of hostiilties. 

No man who has the least regard to his character^ — who is 
not deprived by faction and party violence of the moral sense 
—can, after a perusal of the preceding observations and facts, 
hesitate what sentence to pronounce on the accusation, that 
*^ th^ war ivas founded in falsehood.''^ 

CHAPTER XLVL 

lyiquiry into the justice of ike war ccniimied, A clear, explicit^ 
and unanswerahh defence cf it, on the groimd ef impressment 
alone, independent cf all the otJur i^rievanccs, by the itncxcep- 
iionahle tcsiimonij cf the Hon, James Lloyd, esq, of Massacliu- 

Impressment, 

Of the enormity of this horrible grievance, which (17^ cries 
to heaven for v€ns:eance, 1 have given such copious details, in 
chapters 31 to 38^ that I need not enter deeply into it here. 

That it was ample and adequate cause of w-ar, no man can 
deny, who reads the letter from ccramodore Porter, page 214^ — 
and the extract from the log book of the Gi^erriere, page 21 5 — 
whereby it is indisputably f sniblished that there were no less 
than the enormous number of forty-five i^merican impressed 
seamen on board three British vessels. 

1 must once more bes; leave to introduce to the reader, James 
Lioyd, esquire. When I shelter nivself under srjch authority 
as Messrs. Otis, Pickering, Lloyd, <fcc. I deem myself im.jreg- 
iiable. 

Ejiimcl cf a hlter from ihe Honorable James Lioyd to ihe Hcncrable 3h: 

Perkins. 

If Great Bntain did rlaiin and exercise the right to impress into her service 
the real bona iide native citizens of the United States, an iaterminable war witli 
lier, or with all the nations of the earth (if it could oot be otliervvise prevented) 
iiiight be alike just, Uecessary and commendable. The ocean, for the use of the 
ereat family of mankind, shou d own no chartered privileges. In a time of neu- 
trality, while abstaining from injury to other? it should be as free as air to all 
who nuvisx'jte it. and the IMPRESSMENT OP A N \ TiVE .\MER1C \:V CIT- 
IZEN irmocent of crime, and owins elsewhere no primary or paramount allegi- 
ance, dnd prosecuting a lawful commerce in a vr Siel of iiis own country is. as it 
respects the individual, and as it re^rards an infrinR-pmpnt of rights. AS 4iR^.>S" A 
ViOI. VnON IF HE WERE ARRESTED, TORN \ND TR ^ N^Pv^RT- 
ED li^TTOSL WERY FROM HIS PATERNAL ROOF OR DOxMEsTiO 
ALTAR."- Bostou Centinel, March 1813. 



26G 



THE GLIYE BRANCn. 



The mind glows with aniinatioa on reading these noble, 
these digtiiiied, these maaly senticnents, worthy of the most il- 
lustrious heroes cF the revolution ! What a wondeful contrast 
between them and the gro\ eiing report of the committee of the 
leglsiatare of Massachusetts ! This single extract were suffj* 
cient to justify the war, had there been no other ground than 
impressment alone. 

From the commencement of the French revolutionary ^var, 
till the declaration of hostilities took place, our vessels were 
arrested wherever met with by British vessels of war — the 
c:rews overhauled — the British captains seized and enslaved 
i:vhom they pleased — as they were, in the stronsj language 
Cobhett—*' ACCUSERS, WITNESSES, JUDGES, AND 
CAPTORS.' 

England would have made war against all the nations of Eu- 
rope in succession, had they dared to impress her seamen.— 
And what right had she to claim a religious veneration for her 
fiag, when she was in the daily practice of violating ours in 
the grossest manner ? 

I request the reader's attention to this subject. Mr. Lloj^d 
unites " the dawi^ and " the exercise.'^ The former is unua- 
portant in itself, and does not affect the question. Suppose 
En2;land to " claifn a rio-kt'^ to our v essels — to our territory — 
to oar persons — it is no cause of war. But the moment she at- 
tem ^ts to exercise the right" to seize any of them, resistance 
becomes a duty. 

It thus appears, that the expression " claim-' is mere verbiage. 
I do by no means believe it was employed to delude the reader. 
But I aver thai such is its effect. 

nir' " The exercise^' then " by Great Britain, of the right fa 
impress into her sendee the real bona fiik native citizens (f the U, 
Staies^ ivouM,'^' by the explicit and unexceptionable declaration 
of James Lloyd, ^' justifi/ an inlerminahle war ivith her,'^ 

The qaestioii, reader, is thus reduced within a narrow' com- 
pass. It only reniciins to be ascertained whether " she exer- 
cised'" the execrable "right of impressment*' of " real bona fide 
citizens" or not. It she did, the war, according to Mr. Lloyd, 
was just. To prove the fact beyond the possibility of doubt, I 
call in very high authority. I will give up for a moment my 
own calculation of 7000— -the secretary's statement of 6700 — 
and even lord Castiereagh's admission of 1600.* I v, ill rely 
upon the committee of the legislature of Massachusetts, and 

_ * Lord Casilereagh in the Britisli parliamcat, I am assured and cQnSder»tIy be- 
iifive, admitted this number. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



267 



upon the Rev. PJr. Taggart, member of congress from that 
state. 

The latter admits there ^Ye^e three hundred impressed Ame- 
rican seamen on board the British navy on the declaration of 
vvar. And a committee of the house of representatives of 
Massachusetts, [XT as far as their inquiries ivcrd,'') admit 
that there were eleven impressed natives of the state on beard 
that navy. 

I proceed logically. As " the exercise of the right'' of im- 
pressing the " real bona fide native citizens of the United 
States into the service of Great Britain, would justify an 3^ in- 
Icrminahh 7var with her or all tlie nations of the earth''' — and as 
we have cle>irly established that there were, (17^ at all events, 
300 native citizens of the United States so impressed — it fol- 
lows that Mr. Lloyd must ji-slify the late war — and will not 
dare to assert that it was ''-foinukd on falsehood,''' Q. E. D. 

Before I close the subject, I beg leave to introduce higher 
personages on the stage. 

The prince regent has publicly declared, that, it is known 
to the world that this country [G. Britain] was not the aggressor 
in this war." 

And the lords of the admiralty, in their proclamation, dated 
April, 1814, (see page 60,) express their regret on the subject 
of the unprovolced agirression of the American government ifi de- 
claring: war after all the causes of its original complaint had been 
reimved.^^ 

To enter the lists as:ainst such formidable aniacronists, is re- 
ally bold and daring. But 1 venture to assert, and hope I have 
proved, that the war was not founded in falsehood — that 
Great Britain was notoriously " the aggressor;" — and that none 
of " the original causes of complaint had been removed" previ- 
ous to the declaration of war. 

Just as this page was going to press, I met with an important 
document, ^^hich bears powerfully and unanswerably on this to- 
pic. It is entitled 

"An abstract of the returns or lists received from gen, Lymao, of Americsn 
seamen and citizens, who have been impressed or he]d ou board his Britannic ma- 
jesty's ships of war, from the Ist of October, 1807, till the 3lgt of March, io09. 

The whole number of impressed men included in these re^ 



turns, is 873 

Of whom were discharged 287 

Applicaticns unanswered 103 

In ships on foreign stations 48 

Deserted 32 



268 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



British ^uljects 98 
Having voluntarily entered 34 
Married ia England or Ireland 7 

The remaining 1:64 v»ere refusrd to he discharged on variou? 
grounds of irregularity of documents, S^c, But let it be 
borne in eternal remembrance, that cf the 7vkole nu7nher 873, 
there 7vere cnly G8 who pjcrc detithud as Entibh svhjt cts ! 

This single document is of itself abundantly sufficient to 
condemn, beyond the po^^ e^ of appeal or justincVtlon, the odi- 
ous practice of im])ressment. Eight hundred and seventy three 
persons, sailing under the American flag, which ought to have 
ensured them full and complete protection, are seized v/ith ev- 
ery circumstance of outrage, oppression, injury, and injustice, 
as Britisl) subjects — are torn from their friends and families and 
country — are compelled to fight the battles of Great Britain, at 
the risque of being slaughtered by her enemies — they are sub- 
ject to the most ignominious punishment, if the}^ dare refuse to 
serve ; and yet, good heavens ! w hat an abomination I w hen 
their cases are full}^ investigated, it is found that only 98 cf 
tliem are asserted to be — though they were all stolen tinder pre- 
Uncs that they were — British subjects ! 1 1 

i make a solemn appeal on this subject — cot to the United 
States — not to the British nation — not to France — but to the 
'whole world — and boldly aver, and dare contradiction, that no 
nation ever perpet^'ated such atrocious, such horrible, such 
law less violence on another nation, in a state of pretended peace 
and friendship ; and that no nation, w ith equal means of defence 
and offence, ever before submitted to such humiliation, such de- 
gradation, as has been heaped on the United States. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 



Turbulence of Boston, Boston acts on MassacJiusetts. Massa- 
chusetts etcts on th-e other eastern states. Jealousies and discord 
sedulously excited. Hateful pi^iure (f the smithern states.— 
Coimnercial and anti-co?n7nercial states. Enquiry into the 
claifns of th^e eastern states, Yankeeisni, Moral and reli- 
gious people, 

Boston, the metropolis of Massachusetts, has been, for a 
long period, and more particuh^rly since the close of the reign 
of federalism, the seat cf discontent, complaint and turbulence. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



28ft 



It has been itself restless and uneasy — ^and has spread restless- 
ness and uneasiness in every direction. It has thwarted, har- 
rassed, and embarrassed the general government, incomparably 
more than ail the rest of the union together. 

"Whatever difficulty or distress arose from the extraordinary 
circumstances of the times — and great difficulty and distress 
were inevitable — was aggravated and magnified to the highest 
degree, for this purpose of inflaming the public passions. Tho 
leaders in the business were clamorous, when we were at peace 
in 1 793, and in IBOtj, for war against England, on account of 
her depredations on their commerce, and in i 807, on account 
of the attack on the Chesapeake. They were equally clamor- 
ous, as we have seen, in 1803, for war against Spain, for the 
interruption of the right of dej)osit at New-Orleans, and de- 
nounced, in the most vindent style, the imbecility and coward 
ice of governments Yet from the moinent when war was de- 
clared, tliey clamoured tor peace, and reprobated the \^ar as 
wicked, unjust, and unnecessary, although the causes of war 
were incomparably greater in 1812, than in 1793, 1803, 1806. 
or 1807.^ They made every possible effort to raise obstruc- 
tions aud difficulties, in the persecution of the war ; and yet 
reprohated the administration for their hiibeciliti/ in carrying it 
en. They reduced the government to bankruptcy, as I tn:st I 
shall prove; and [17^ reproached it for its necessities and embar- 
rassments. In a word, all their movemenis have had and stili 
I ave but one object, to enfeeble and distract the government.™ 
This object has been too successfully attained. 

With a population of only 33,000 inhabitants, and with a 
commerce quite insignificant, compared with that of New-York^ 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Charleston, Boston has, by manage- 
ment and address, acquired a degree of influence beyond all 
proportion greater than its due share — greater in fact than the 
above four cities combined — a degree of influence which has 
been exercised in such a manner as to become dansreroug to 
public and private prosperity and happiness, and to the peace and 
permanence of the union. Itbrouglit us to the very verge of 
itsf dissoluticnj and nearly to the awful consequence — a civil 
war. 

The movers of this mighty piece of machinery — ^this lever 
that puts into convulsive motion the whole of our political fab- 
Tic, ar« few in number. But they are possessed of inordinate 
wealth — of considerable talents — great energy — and overgrown 
influence. They rigbrd a signal proof how much a few imn 



*5ee chapters 43 ard 44. 

z 



i!70 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

Tiiay e^ect by energy and concert, more especially ^hen ih^j 
are not very scrupulous about the means, provided the ends 
are occomplished. A northern confederacy has been their 
grand oi jecl for a number of years. They have repeatedly 
advocated in the public prints a separation of the states, on ac- 
count of a pretended discordance of views and interests of the 
different sections. 

This project (*>f separation was formed shortly afler the adop- 
tion of the federal constitution. Whether it w as ventured be- 
fore the public ejiiiier tlian 1796, 1 know not. But of its pro- 
mulgation in that year, there is the most indubitable evidence. 
^1 most elaborate set of papers was then published in the ciiy 
of Hartford in Connecticut, the joint production of an associ- 
%t\on of men of the iirst talents and inSuence in the state. — 
They appeared in the Connecticut Courant, published by Hud- 
son and Goodwin, two eminent printers, of, I believe, consider- 
able revoluliofiarv standing'. There were then none of the 
lo!»g catalogue of grievances, which, since that period, have 
been falnicated to justify the recent attempts to dissolve the 
union. General Washin2;ton was president ; John Adams, an 
eastern citizen, vice-president. There was no French infiu- 
^nce — no Virginia dynasty — no embargo — no non intercourse 
- — no terrapin poiicy — no democratic madness — no ^^a^. — In 
linf, every feature in the affairs of the country was precisely 
according to their fondest w\ishes. 

These essays under the signature of Pelham, were republish- 
ed in PJiiladeiDhia, in a paper called the New World, edited 
livMr. S. H. ^mith; 

To sow discord, jealonsj^ and hostility^ between the different 
sections of the union, v^ as the first and gr?!nd step m their ca- 
reer, in order to accomplish the favorite object of a separation 
of the states. 

In fact, without this efficient instrument, all their efforts 
%voukl have been utterly unavailing^. It would have ^en im- 
pos£U)le,i!ad the honest yeomanry of the eastern states rontin- 
jjed to regard their soutlie^n feilow-citizens as friends ; nd hr^ rh- 
ren, having one common interest in t*he promotK>n of the gen- 
eral welfrtie, to make them instruments in the h. nds of t i* se 
"vs ho intend to emf^loy them to operate the unholy xvofk of des- 
troying the noble, the august, the splendid fabric of our union 
and unparalleled form of government. 

For eighteen 3'ears, therefore, the most unceasing endeavours 
bave been used to poison the minds nf 'he ptof le of the e^st- 
erc states towards, and to aiien^^te *hem from, their fe^N-n^-v ti- 
^eA3^3 of tlie southern. The people of the latter section have 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 2Xf 

been pouiirayed as demons incarnate, and deslitale of all the 
good quniities that dignify or adora humtn nature — that tie- 
quire esteeai and regard — that entitle to respect and veneration. 
Nothing can exceed tlie virulence of these. caricatures ; some of 
which would have suited the ferocious inhamtants of Nev? -Zeal- 
and. raUier than a civilized or polished nation. 

To illustrate, and remove all doubt on this subject, I suljoiii 
an extract from Peiham's essay, No. L 

" Nes;roes are, in all respects, except in regard to life and death, the 
cattle of the citizens of the southern states. If the t,- utre good for food^ 
the probability is, that even ike power of desfrfji/rng iheir livts would be eu' 
joyed by iheir owners, as fully as it is over the Hies of their cattle. Il can^ 
\i0t bty that their laws prohibit the vmien frotn killing their slaves^ because, 
those slaves are human beings, or because it is a moral evil to destroy them. 
If that were the case, how can they justify their being treated, in all 
other respects, Lke brutes? for it is in this point of viow alone, that ne- 
groes in the s(^nthern states are considered in fact as different from cat'le* 
They ai^ bought and «;old — they are f<rd or kept hungry — they are cloth- 
ed, or reduced to nakedness — they are beaten, turned out to the fury of 
the elemeiUs, and torn from their dearest connexions, ivtth as litlk rc- 
morse &s if they were beasts of tfu fitld?^ 

Never was tiiere a more infamous or unfounded caricature 
thtn this — never one more disgraceful to its author. It may 
not 'ie amiss to state, that it greatly enhances the turpitude of 
the writer, that at the period wiien the above was written, there' 
were raanv slaves in Connecticut, who were subiect to all the 
disadvantages that attended the southern slaves. 

Its vile character is further greatly aggravated by the consid- 
eration that a large portion of these very negroes, and their 
ancestors, had been purchased and rent t>om their homes and 
families, bj^ citizens of the eastern states, who were actually at 
t!iat moment, ami long afterwards, engaged in the Slave Trade, 

I add a few more extracts from Pelham 

We have reached a critical period in our political existence. The 
question must soon decided, whether we will continue a nation^ at the 
expense even of our union^ or sink with the present mass of diiSciilty into- 
confusion and slaver}^. 

** Many advantages were supposed to be secured, and many evils a- 
V'oided-, by an union of the states. I shall not deny that the supposition 
was well founded. But at that time those advantages and those evils, 
were magnitied to a far greater size, than either v;ouId be if the ques- 
tion was at this moment to be i^ettled. 

*' The northern states can subsist as a nation, a republic, without any 
connexion with the southern. It cannot be contested, that if the southern 
states u ere possessed of the same political ideas, an union would still be- 
JW^re desirable than a separation. But when it becomes a serious ques-- 
tion, whether we shall give up our govern meiii, or^aEt with. th£ 5taie£- 



272 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



south of the Potomac, no man north of that river, whose heart is no^ 
thoroughly democratic, cam hesitate what decision to make. 

I shall in the ftiture papers consider some of the great events which 
will lead io a separation of ike United States ; show the importance of re- 
taining their present constitittion, even at the expense of a separation ^ 
mdeavour to prove the impossibility of an union for any long period in fu^ 
ture^ both from the moral and political habits of (he citizens of the southern 
states ; and nnally examine carefully to see whether we have not ahead]/ 
'i'pproacked the era when they must be divided,''^ 

It is impossible for a man of intelligence and candor to read 
*liese extracts, without feeling a decided conviction that the 
writer and his friends were determined to nse all their endeav- 
ours to dissolve the union, and endan'^er civil war and all its 
horrors, in order to [M^omote their personal views. This affords 
a comrdete clue to all the seditious proceedings that have oc- 
curred since rliat period — Hie unceasing efforts to excite the 
public mind to that feverish state of discord, jealousy, and ex- 
asperation, which was necessary to prepare it for convulsion^ 
The prarlies interested would, on the stage of a separate confed- 
eracy perform the brilliant parts of kings, and princes, generals 
^md. geoeralissiinos — whereas on the grand siage of a general 
nnion, embracing all the states, they are obliged to sustain cliar- 
acteis of perhaps a second or third rate, " Better to rule in hell, 
than obey in heaven,'''' 

The unholy spirit that inspired the writer of the above ex- 
tracts, has been, from that hou? to the present, incessantly em- 
ployed to excite hostilit}^ between the different sections of the 
union. To such horrible lengths has this spirit been carried, 
that many paragraphs have occasionally appeared in the Bos- 
ton papers, intended, and w ell citlcidated to excite the negroes 
of the southern states to rise and massacre their masters. This 
will undoubtedly appear incredible to the reader. It is never- 
theless sacredly true. It is a species of turpitude and base- 
ness, of which the world has produced few exanrples. 

Thus some progress was made. But it was inconsiderable. 
While the yeomanry of the eastern states were enriched by a 
beneficial commerce with the southern, they did not feel dis- 
posed to quarrel with them for their supposed want of a due 
degree of piety or morality. 

A deeper game was requisite to be played, or all the pains 
taken so far, w^ould have been wholly fruitless. And this was 
sedulously undertaken. The press literally groaned with ef- 
forts to prove five points, wholly destitute of foundation. 

First, That the eastern states were superemineiitly comiiier* 
cial. 



THE GLITE BR^A1?C3^. 



^iecondly, That the elates south of the Sasquehanna w^re 
whoMy agricultural. 

Thirdly, That there is a natural and inevituble hostiiitj be- 
t^veen comiTiercial and agricultural stales. 

Fourthly, That, this hostility has uniforni'y pervaded the 
%vIiole southern section of the union. And 

Fifihly, That ail the measures of congress Vyere dictated by 
'his hostiiiiy ; and were actually intended to ruin the cominer- 
ci'A, meaaina the eastern states. 

i do not asgert t hat these miserable, these contemptible, these- 
deceptioas posltioiis were ever laid down in a regular form, a?., 
theses to argue upon. But I do aver, that they form a basis of 
three-fourths of ail the essays, paragra^)hs, squibs, and crackers^ 
that have a:)]}eared in the Boston papers against the administra- 
tion for many years past. ^* The Road to Ruin,'' ascribed to 
John Lowell, no^r before me, is remai/kable for its virulence, 
its acrimony, its intem[)erai!cc. ^nd for tlie talents of the \^riter. 
He undoutitediy places his subject in the s:fon2;est point of ligl.'t 
possible for such a su'^^ect. But if you extract from his essays, 
the assumption of th€se positions, all the rest is a mere cajjut 
inortnnin — all '* sound and fury," On these topics the changes, 
are runa: in endless succession. The same observation w ill ar^- 
ply, an i wun equal force, to hundreds and thousands of essaya 
and paragraphs written on the same topic. 

Never was the — :ruita mn vL. scdLscepe cadendo—more com- 
pletely veriQed. These positions, however absurd, however 
extravagant, however ridiculous they appear in their naked 
form, have, by dint of iiicessiint repetition, made such an im^ 
pression upon tl>e minds cf a Isr^e portion of the people of the 
eastern states, that thev are ss thoroughly convLnced of. their 
truth, as rjf any prolnem in Euclid. 

Boston having acted upon, and inflamed Massachusetts, that 
state actf d upon, ;md put in movement, the rest of the eastera^ 
states, more partic-d-irly Connecticut and Rhode Island. New 
H im^jshire and Vermont are but [)artial!y infected with the 
tur'iuleiit and jaccbinical spirit that predominates in Massachu-^ 
setts. 

It thus hapnens, that a people proverbialh/ orderly, quiet, g9^> 
ber, and rational, were actually so hi2:hiy excited as to be ripe 
for revolution, and ready to overturn the whole system of so^ 
ci:il order. A consoiracy vvas formed, which, as I have stj^ted^ 
and as cannot ^^e too often repealed, promised fair to ffrod jce 
convulsion — a dissohation of t/i" iiniGn — and a civil n)ai% mlesg 
tiie sedoced people of that section of the uoioii could be reGaF^ 

Z 2 



274 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



ered from the fatal delusion they labored under, and restored to 
their reason. 

I sh.dl very brieSy, and without much attention to order or 
regularity, consider these positions. They are not entitled to 
a serious refiuadoc, but merely as they have been made the ia- 
struments of producing so much mischief. 

Before I touch upon the commercial points. I shall oS'er a 
few observations on the high and exalted pretensions of the 
people of the eastern states, to superior morality and rellgiun; 
over the rest of the union. There has not been, it is true, quite 
so much parade with these excl'jsive claims as on the subject 
of commerce. Perhaps the reason is, that there was no polit- 
ical purpose to be answered by them. But that the people of 
that section of the union are in general tlioroughly persuaded 
that they very far excel the rest of the nation in both religion 
and morals, no man who has been conversant w*iih them can 
deny. This folly of self-righteousness, of exalting ourselves 
above others, is too general all over the world ; but no w here 
more prevalent, or to greater extent, than in the eastern states. 
To pretend to institute a comparison between the religion and 
morals of the people of Boston and these of Philadeljdiia, New- 
York, or Baltimore, would be regarded as equally extravagant 
and absurd, with a comparison of tlte gambols of a cow to tlie 
sprightly and elegant curvetings of an Arabian courser. The 
Rev. Jedediah Morse has in some degree devoted hi« [^eography 
to, and disgraced it by^ the perpetuation of this vile prejudice. 
Almost every page that respects his own section of the union 
is highly encomlasiic. He colours with the fiatlenng tints of 
a partial and enamoured friend. But when once he passes the 
Susquehannahj what a hideous reverse Almost every thing 
is there frightful caricature. Society is at a low and melan- 
choly ebb, and all the sombre tints are emploj ed to elevate, i.-y 
the contrast, his favorite Elysium, the eastern states. He dins 
his pen in gall when he has to pourtray the manners, or habits^ 
€r religion, of Virginia, or Maryland, either of the Carolinas 
C^r Georofia, or the western country. 

I should enter far into the conslderaf'on of this procedure 
of Mr. Morse, but that it has been abJy discussed by a superi- 
or pen. The editor of the Port Folio, hlmseif a decided fed- 
eralist, repro5?ates, and pronounces a just and eternal condemn 
nation on the illiheralilj^ of making a school, or indeed any 
^ther book^ a vehicle to excite avimosilies between feilow-citi- 
zens of different portions of the same nation. 

The character of th.e eastern states for morality has been 
•various at various times. Not long suice it was at a very 



THE OLiVE BilANCIL 



275 



oVib iiideec!. It is within the memory of tliose ever v/hose 
<!hin3 no razor has ever oiowed a harvest, that Yunkee and 
sharper were regarded as nearly synonimous. And this wag 
not amoQg the low and illiberal, the i}a5e and vidgar. it per- 
vaded all ranks of society. In the middle and southern s'^atet 
traders were universally very mucli on their guard against Yan- 
kee tricks vrhen dealing with those of the eastern. 

They now arrogate to themselves (and, for parly purposes, 
their claims are sometimes admitted by their poiitical friends) 
to be, as I have stated, a su|)erior order to their fellow citizent^. 
They look down upon those of tlie southward with as much 
cornempd, and with as much foundation too, as did the Fbarl- 
see of old on the despised Fnblican. 

Both of those \ iews are grossly erroneous. They never, a& 
^ people, merited the O'pprobrinm under which they formeriy 
labored. There were, it is true, m^ny \^orthless miscreants 
among them, who, on their emigration to the other states, were 
guilt}' of base tricks, which, by an illiberality disgraceful to om 
Sj^ecies, but nevertheless very common, were charged to the ae- 
coimt of the entire people of the eastern states, and brought 
them under a most undeserved odlmn« 

I feel a [^ride and r)leasure in doing justice to the yeomanry 
of the eastern states. They will not suffer in a comparison 
with the same class of men in anv part of the v^•orid. Thev 
are upright, sober, orderly, and regular — shrewd, intelligent^ 
and well-informed— and I believe there is not a greater degree 
of geniiine native mbanity among the yeomanry of any conn 
trv under the cano?w of heaven. And it is lamentable and un- 
accountable itow they have allowed themselves to be so egi^- 
gio=»sly duped as they have been* I have known them long ; 
and my respect for them has gradually increased in proportion 
as my knowledge of them has extended. But I shall never 
admit any exclusive or supereminent claim to the virtues which 
J know they possess. And 1 have no Hesitation in averring, 
that although Boston, or Hartford, or Newhaven, may exhibit 
father more appearance of religion and piety, than New-Yerk. 
or Philadelphia, or Baltimore, yet the latter cities possess as 
much of the reality. It would astonish and frigihten many of 
the pious people in New-York or Philadelphia, to be infonned 
— '^"t they may nevertheless rely upon the information as indu- 
bitaldy irue— that a large portion of the clergy of the town of 
Boston, are pJ-solute Unitarians ; and scout the idea of tJie di- 
vinity of Jesus Christ as com|)letely and explicitly r.s ever Dp, 
Priestly did. This is a digression.* I did no^ intend to in^ro^ 
«uee it* But since it is here, let it remain. And let me add, 



2-76 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

thai (lie presGnt principal of Harvard VoWe^a was known to 
an Unitarbn when he was elected. This fact esldLiishtrf the 
verj great extent and |?re valence of the tluclrine. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

4ri'0gance of the cl^iims- of the eastern states on the suhject of 
eommcrce* Strdislical iables, Conipartsoii cf the exports of 
the several states. 



The liigh and soundins: pretensions of the eastern stales on 
ibe subject of comtiierce have I'eea ahiKJsl universf:lly admitted. 
No person has ever thought it worth while to examine into the 
actual state of the facts. It has heen presiuned, ihat, in a nmt- 
ter w here falsehood and deception were so easily detecled, such 
confident assertions would not he hazarded, unless they rested 
on a strong foundation. And in drawinfc the line of demarca- 
lion between the eastern states and the rest of the union, in the 
minds of the mass of the community, all to the north and e*vst 
of the line was regarded as devoted exclusively lo commerce ^ 
all to the south and west, chieSy to agricuMure. 

It is hardly possible to conceive a greater mistake. The 
reader will he astonished at the view I shall lay hefore hitn. — - 
I have been inexpressibly surprised myself, and even now can 
hardly credit my own statements. They are nevertheless m- 
flisputable*, 

TABLE A. 

Tahh of Exports from frie United Stales, of FOUEIGN and domesiic prc= 
duciionr, and manufaciurts,froriiVi^\ 180£. Carefully extracted from 
ihe ireasurij returns. 

Pennnilvarda. 
3.436,000 



iT9l 
179^2 

1T94 
1795 
1T96 
1T9T 
1793 
1799 
1800 
1801 
M02 



Massachusetts. 
2,519,000 
^,888.000 
3:755.000 
5,292,000 
7,117.000 
9,949,000 
7,50'^000 
B,6S9,000 
■11,421.000 
11,326,000 
14,B70/>00 
13,492,00^* 



Nm-York. 
£.505,000 
2,535.000 
2.932,000 
5,442.000 
10,304,000 
12,208,000 
15,308,000 
14,3^30,000 
18,719,000 
14,045,000 
19,851,000 
13.795. 0'K) 



3,820,000 
6,958,000 
6,643,OC«0 
11,518,000 
17,513 000 
11,446,000 
8,915,000 
12,431,000 
11,949,000 
17,438,000 
12,677,000 



S. Carolina. 
2:693,000 
2,428,000 
' 3,191,000 
3,867,000 
5,998.000 
T.620.000 
6,505,000 
6,994,000 
B,729,000 
10.663,000 
14,304.000 
10.639,000 



idar viand. 
2,239,000- 
2,6iS,000 
3,665,000 
5,686.000 
5,811,000 
9,201,000 
9,811,000 
12,746,00d 
16,299,000 
12,264 000 
12,767,000. 
7,914,000 



198,770,000 m,941,O00 124,744,000 ^3,631,000 101^026,000 



i'HE OLIVE BRANCH. 



211 



Conneciicui. 
T10,000 

rm 879,000 

fY93 770.000 

1794 g12,600 

1795 019.000 

1796 1,45^,000 

1797 OIA.OOO 

1798 765,000 

1799 1,143,000 

1800 1,114,000 
180t 1.446,000 
1^02 1,606.000 



Rhod*: Island, 

470,000 
698.000 
616.000 
954,000 

1,589.000 

975,000 

94T.000 
1.055.000 

i^s^e.ooo 

1.832,000 
2,433,000 



Virginia. 

-^3,131, 000 
3, 55^', 000 
2,9B7,0C0 
3,3^1.000 
3,4^:0,000 
5fie:i 0; 
4,90 000 
6.1:13.000 
6,29i'.000 
4,43-0,000 
c^.6o5,(.00 
3,978,000 



Georgia. N. 

491,000 
459,000 
55.;.0'?0 
263,000 
69.^),000 
950.000 
6.U.000 
961.000 
1,396,000 
1,174,000 
1,755.000 
1,854,000 



Hampchire . 

142,000 
181,000 
198.000 
153.000 
229.000 
370,000 
^75.000 
361 000 
361.000 
431,000 
555,000 
565 000 



$ 1:2,32 f, 000 14,113,000 53,125,000 11,162,000 3,829,000 





VcrniQni. 


N. Ccrolincu 


" Nerv Jo mi. 


Dehrvare. 


1791 




52-. 000 


26.000 


119,000 


1792 




527 OuO 


23,000 


133,000 


1793 




365.000 


54.000 


93.fe00 


1794 




321.000 


.50,000 


207,000 


1795 




m. uQQ 


130.000 


15f.O0O 


1796 




6T).000 


59.000 


£01,000 


1797 




5 i0 000 


18,000 


98,000 


1798 




537,000 


61 ,000 


183,000 


1799 


20,000 


485.000 


9.000 


297.0'./0 


1800 


57,000 


T6*,000 


2,000 


418,000 


1801 


67,000 


874,000 


25,000 


662.000 




31 000 


659,000 


26,000 


440,000 




$ 165,000 


6,764,000 


491,000 


3,009,000 



N. E. In the preceding table of exports, the figures below thousands 
are uniformly omitted, as not material to tide calculation— and affecting 
equally both sides of the questioji. 

Comparative views of the expons from, ilie (liferent states, of for- 
eign and domestic articles, from 1791 to 1802, inclusivelk— 
See Table A. 

L Marjiand exported eight times as miicb as Connf client ; 
seven times as much as Rhode Island ; two per cent, more ihan 

the great commercial slafe" of Massachusetts ; and \ ery near^ - 
I J as much as Massachusetts^ Newhampshire, and Verm.ont 
imited. 

Maryland 101,026,000 
Blassachusetfs 98,770,000 
Newhampshir^ 3,829,000 
Vermout ^ 165,000 

102,764,000. 



278 



'THE OLIVE BRANCST. 



Cotmeclicut 12,328,000 

Rhode Island 14,11:3,000 

II. Maryland exported above 330 per cent. 7nore than New- 
Hampshire^ Vermont^ Conneciicut^ and Rhode Island. 

Maryland 101,26,000 
Kewhampshire 3,829,000 
Vermont 1 1;5,000 
Corinecticut 12,31-8,000 
Rhode Island 14,113,000 



[0,435,000 



nr. South Carolhia exported nearly six times hs rarich as 
Hhode Island; nearly seven times as much as Counecticat ; 
above twenty times as much as Newham. shire ; fi\e Tnmdred 
limes a« much as Yermout ; and MQ per cent, more than these 
four states. 

South Carolina 83,631,000 
Kewhampshire 3.82P,000 
Connecticut 12,328.000 
Ehvvde island 14,113.000 
Vermont 165,000 

30,435,000 

IV. Virginia exported 73 per cent, more than the four minor 
jeastern states. 

Virdnia 53.125,000 
IN". Hampshire, Vermont, &:c. See No. 2 30.425,000 

V. Virginia and South Carolina exported 8 per cent, more 
^han the h\ e s:reat commercial eastern stntesv' 

Yirdoia 53,125,000 
SouTh Carolina ^3.631,000 



Blassachiisetts 98,7 70,000 

]N. Hampshire, Vermont, &c. 30,435,000 



136,756,000 



129,205,00a 



VI. North Carolina exported 70 per cent more than New- 
Hr.m[^shire and Veinioat. 

Norih Carolina ' 5,764,000 

Ne\^htm-suire 3,829,000 
VermoQt 165,000 

3,994,00§ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



V^lL Georgia exported nearly as much as Connecticut: 

Georgia - 12J62.0(K-) 

Connecticut - - - - - - 12,328,000 

Vlil. [^"Tke jive soidkern states exported nearly twice as 
much as the jive great eastern states ! ! 1 

Mftrrjand _ ^ . _ - 101,026.000 

Virginia _ - _ ^ . f>3J2},000 

North Carolina - . . - ^ 6.764.0C0 

South Carolina - ^ . - - 8:^,631.000 

Georsia . . . - . 12.162,000 

256,703,000 

•Five eastern states. See No. 5. 129,205,000 

IX. Pennsvrvania exported nearly as much as tlie " nve 
great commeiciai eastern states.'' 

Penm-TivaDia _ - _ 124,74J-G0a 

Five eaitern states. See No. 5 - - I29,20j,000 

TIBLE B. 



FOREIGN PRODUCTIONS aivl MANUFACTURES exported from the 
United Stntes from 1 803 lo ! 8 1 1 Ci:r(fulbj taken from the treasury reiiims. 



Marimchusdis. 


Pi'eiv-York. 


P-ennsvlvania. 


' Carolina, 


Maryland. 


ISi'S S3.3»i9.O0B 


3,'f^i 000 


3,504,000 


947.000 


l,37l.'00O 


l^^O* 


10,391,000 


8,^80 000 


6.831,000 


2,302,000 


5,213,000 


180 J 


l;l7Tn.0C0 


1^,381,000 


9,397=000 


3,108,000 


7,-^50 000 


1806 


1 1.^77.000 


13.70P-000 


13j;0n.000 


2.94b.000 


10,919.000 


1307 


1. 3, 9 1 6. 000 


16,400,000 


12.0*5,000 


3,783.000 


10,2^2,000 


1808 


3,C 10,000 


3,2 '3.000 


2,ri-i(;,ooo 


260.000 


1,95H 000 


1800 


6 lin.O'^O 




4,8 iO GOO 


385,000 


4,05«.O0O 


13i0 


l,25iMQ 


6.313.000 


6,241.000 


401000 


3.213.000 


181 1 


.')J92.01'0 


3.5!B.0oa 


3,865 000 


210,000 


2.820.000 


lei*^ 




2,373 000 


1,313 000 


1' COO 


1.929.000 


1813 


291,000 


1,12^.000 


327.000 


53,000 


1,003,000 




8i,T2-l,000 


78,052,000 


€5,118.000 


i 4.420,000 


^0 214,000 


Connecticut 


Rhode lalmd. 


Vire;inia. 




Hampshire. 


1803 


$ !0 000 


611,000 


1.7! 000 


25.000 


. 51.000 


1804 


2^.000 


817.000 


39?.00O 


74.000 


~ 2f=-2.000 




90. 000 


L506.00G 


660.0^0 


43,000 


21B.090 




]93.oao 


1,142 000 


425.0C0 




383 009 


1807 


10.7.000 


9KV000 


367,000 


34,000 


314,000 


1808 


l.^-.OOO 


102 009 


18 OCO 




2.000 


1809 


U 000 


62P.009 


iO: 000 




8^000 


18)0 


5 000 


45*''.000 


189.G00 


3X00 


9,000 


18'1 


. 38.000 


<32« 000 


2*^ 00-0 


11,000 


53.000 


1812 




150.000 


17,000 




9,00d 


1813 


5.000 


2,000 










501.000 


6,9j3,G00 


2,355,000 


190,000 


1,336.008 



2Siy THE OLIVE BRANCH. 





Vermont* 


JV. Carolina. 


NcW'Jerscu, 


Delnwarc, 


1803 


27,000 


26,000 


240,000 


1804 


55,000 


9,000 




517,0U0 


1805 


67,000 


12,000 




280,000 


180G 


102,000 


3,000 


7,000 


3*74,000 


1807 


55,000 


4,000 


5,000 


151,000 


1808 


25,000 




8,000 


70,0^30 


1809 


49,000 




50,000 


41,000 


18 10 


26,000 


2,000 


37,000 


40.000 


1811 


533,000 


4,000 






1812 


131,000 








181<3 




1,000 








1,075,000 


61,000 


107,000 


1,713,000 



Comparative views of foreign articles^ exported from 1803 to 13t3. Se.t 

preceding Table B. 

I. Marylaml exported above five times as much as the four 
minor eastern states, 

Maryland 50,214.000 
Connecticut 501,000 
Rhode Island 6,963,000 
New Hampshire 1,386,000 
Vermont 1,075,000 

9,915,000 

n. South Carolina exported nearly twice as much as Con 
iieclicutand Rhode Island ; above ten times as much as New 
Hnmpshire ; and above forty per cent, more than the four mi- 
UOT eastern states. 

South Carolina 14,420,000 
Connecticut 501,000 
Rhode Island 6,953,000 

7,454,000 

New Ham])shire 3,386,000 
Four minor eastern stales, No. 1. 9,915,000 

III. Marvdand and South Carolina exported nearly eighty 
per cent, of the amount exported by Massachusetts. 

Maryland 50,214,000 
South Carolina 14,420,000 

' ^ 64,634,000 

Massachusetts 31,314,000 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



IV. Virginia exported above twenty percent, more thaa 
Connecticut and New Hampshire. 

Vy-ginia 2,355,000 
Connecticut 501,000 
New Hampshire 1 ,386,000 

1,887,000 

TABLE C. 

DOMESTTC PRODUCTIONS and MANUFACTURES exported 
from the United States from 1803 to 1813, carefully extracted from the 
^ treasury returns, 

Massachusetts, New-York, Pennsylvania, S, Carolina. Maryland. 

1803 $5,399,000 7,626,000 4,021,000 6,863,000 3,707,000 

1804 6,303,000 7,501,000 4,178,000 5,142,000 3,938,000 
1803 5,697,000 8,098,000 4,365,000 5,9j7,0O0 3,408,000 
]1]06 6,621,000 9,053,000 3,765,000 6,797,000 3,661,000 
1807 6,185,000 9,957,000 4,809,000 7,129,000 4,016,000 
3808 1,508,000 2,362,000 1,066,000 1,404,000 764.000 

1809 6,022,000 8,348,000 4,238,000 2,861,000 2,570,000 

1810 5,761,000 10,928,000 4,751,000 4,881,000 3,275,000 

1811 6,042,000 8,747.000 5,694,000 4,650,000 4,553,000 

1812 3,935,000 6,603,000 4,660,000 2,024,000 3,956,000 

1813 1,514,000 1,060,000 8,249,000 2,815,000 2,782,000 

54,986,000 85,283,000 44,796,000 50,523,000 36,630,000 



Connecticut. R. Island. Virginia, Georgia. N. Hampshire^ 

1803 $1,238,000 604,000 5,949,000 2,345,000 443,000 

1804 1,486,000 917,000 5,394,000 2,003,000 453,000 

1805 1,353,000 1,065,000 4,945,000 2,351,000 389,000 
1306 1,522,000 949,000 4,626,000 82,000 411,000 

1807 1,519,000 741,000 4,393,000 3,710,000 365,000 

1808 397,000 139,000 508,000 24,000 122,000 

1809 655,000 658,000 2,786,000 1,082,000 201,000 

1810 762,000 874.000 4,632,000 2,234,000 225,000 

1811 994,000 944,000 4,798,000 2,557,000 315,000 

1812 720,000 604,000 2,983,000 1,066,000 194,000 
18)3 968,000 234,000 1,819,000 1,094,000 29,000 



11,614,000 7,789,000 42,833,000 18,548,000 3,147,000 

Aa 



282 



THE OLIVE BKANCH, 



Vermont. N.Carolma. N.Jersey. Delaware. Orleans, Cclumbm. 

1803 389,000 926,000 21,000 187,000 1,412,000 

1304 135,000 919,000 24,000 180,000 1,392,000 1,157.000 

1805 101,000 767,000 20,000 77,000 2,338,000 1,135^000 

1800 91,000 786,000 26,000 125,000 2.357,000 1,091,000 

1807 148,000 740,000 36,500 77,000 3,161,000 1.363,000 

1808 83,000 117,000 12,000 38,000 537.000 281,000 

1809 125,000 322,000 269,000 96,OOo 344,000 681,000 

1810 406,000 401,000 392,000 79,000 1,753,000 084.000 

1811 32,000 793,000 1,000 76,000 2,501,000 2,060^000 

1812 7,000 489,000 4,G0O '29,000 1.012,000 1^593,000 

1813 795,000 10,000 133,000 1,013,000 1,387,000 



1,217,000 7,055.000 813,000 1,097,000 18,403,000 13,144,000 

Comvaraiive vicivs of domesiic articles, exported from 1803 181X 

See preceding Table C. 

I. South Carolina exported \vithin eight per cent, of the 
whole amount exported by Massachusetts; nearly seven times 
us much as Rhode Island ; above four times us much as Con- 
necticut; and above twice as much as the four minor eastern 
states. 

South Carolina 50,523,00a 
Blassachusetts 54,985,000 
New Hampshire 3,147,000 
Vermont 1,217,000 
CoDRsciicut 11,614,000 
Rhode Island 7,789,000 

23,767,000 

II. Virginia and Maryland e^sported more than all the east" 

em states. 

Virc:inia 42,833,000 
Maryland 36,630,000 

79,463,000 

Massachuretts 54,985,000 
N. Hamp. Ver. R. Island, Sz Conn. 23,767,000 

78,752,000 

III. North Carolina exported almost seventy -five per cent, 
more than New Hampshire and Vermont, and nearly as much 
as Rhode Island. 

North Carolina 7,055,00o 
New Hampshire 3^1 47,000 

Vermont 1,2 .'7,000 

4,364,000 

Rhode Island 7,789,000 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 233 

IV. North Carolina and^Georgia exported more than the 
four minor eastern states. 

North Carolina 7,055,000 
Georgia 1^,348,000 

-23,603,000 

New Hampshire, Vermont, &c. (No. 1.) 23,767,000 

V. Georgia exported nearly twenty per cent, more than Con- 
necticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont. 

Georgia * 18,345^,000 

Connecticut 11,614,000 
New Hampshire 3,147,000 
Vermont 1,217,000 

15,977,000 

\L The district of Columhia and the state of Georgia ex- 
ported thirty per cent, more than New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Connecticut and Rhode Island. 

Columhia 13,144,000 
Georgia 18,548,000 

81,692,000 

New Hampshire, Verm. Conn. &:c. (No. 1.) 23,767,000 

VII. Virginia, Maryland, and South Carolina, exported a- 
bove sixty per cent, more than the five eexstern states. 

Virginia 43,833,000 
Maryland 36,630,000 
South Carolina 50,523,000 

— 129,986,000 

Five eastern states (in No. 2) 78,732,000 

VIII. The district of Columbia, of ten miles square, export* 
cd more than xTewhampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island. 

Columbia 13,144,000 
Newhampshire 3,147,000 
Vermont 1,217,000 
Khode Island 7,789,000 

12,153,000 

IX. The state of Virginia exported above half as much as 
the five eastern states. 

Virginia 42,833,000 
The five eastern states (No. 2.) 78,752,000 

X. Virginia exported nearly as much, and South CaroliffB 
14 per cent. more, than Pennsylvania, 



S84 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Virginia ' 42,833,006 
South Carolina 50,523,000 
Pennsylvapia 44,796,000 

XI. Virgloia exported five hundred and fifty per cent, raore 
than Rhode Island ; three hundred and fifty per cent, more than 
Connecticut; and almost a thousand percent, more than New- 
Hampshire and Vermont. 

Virginia 42,833,000 
Rhode Island 7,789,000 
Connecticut 11,614,000 
Newhampshir^ 3,1 47,000 

Vermont 1,217,000 

4,364,00 

XII. OU^ The district cf Columbia and Virginia exported 
mere than Massachusetts ! 

Columbia 13,144,000 
Virginia 42,833,000 

55,977,000 

Massachusetts 54,986,000 

XIII. 03=' TJie district of Columbia exported more than Co/i- 
necticut and Vermont* 

Columbia 13,144,000 
Connecticut 11,614,000 
Vermont 1,271,000 

12,831,000 

XIV. \SZr South Carolina and Georgia exported more than Ma^.- 
sachusetts^ Rhode Island^ Nenkcunpshire and Vermont, 

South Carolina 50,523,000 
Georgia 28,548,000 



Massachusetts 54,986,000 

Khode Island 7,789,000 

Newhampshire 3,147,000 

Vermont 1,21 7,0 c 



69,071,000 



67,139,000 

XV. South Carolina exported above 450 percent, more than 
Connecticut; above sIk hundred per cent, more than Rhode 
Island; and above one hundred and fifty per cent, more than 
these two states. 



THE OLIVE BKANCH. 



285 



South Carolioa 50,523,000 
Connecticut 11,614,000 
Rhode Island 7,789,000 

XVI- Maryland exported above fifty per cent, more than the 
four minor eastern states. 

Maryland 36,630,000 
Four minor eastern states (No. 1.) ^ 23,76-7,000 

XVII. North Carolina and Georgia exported m©re than the 
four minor eastern states. 

North Carolina 7,055,000 
Georgia 18,584,000 

25,695,000 

Four minor eastern states (N"o. 1.) 23,767,000 

XVIIL South Carolina, Colunabia, and New-Orleans export- 
ed more than the five eastern states. 

South Carolina 50,523,000 
Columbia 13,144,000 
New-Orlean?J 16,408,000 

80,075,000 

Five eastern states (No. 2.) 78,752,000 

XIX. The five southern states, the district of Columbia, and 
New Orleans, exported above two hundred and thirty percent 
more than the five eastern states, and within ten per cent, as 
much as the middle and eastern states. 

Virginia, Maryland, and South Caro- 
lina (No. 7.) 129,986,000 
North Carolina 7,055,000 
Georgia 18,548,000 
Columbia 13,144,000 
New Orleans 16,408,000 



Five eastern states (No. 2.) 78,752,000 
New-Yt5rk ^ 86,283,000 

Pennsylvania 44,795,000 



185,141,000 



-208,831,000 



I am tired of this investigaton. 1 sicken for the honor of 
the human species. What idea must the world form of the ar- 
rogance of the pretensions on the one side — and, on the other^ 
of the folly and weakness of the rest of the union, to have »© 
long suffered them to pass -without exposure and detection ! 

Aa 2 



286 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



The naked fact is, that the demagogues in the eastern states, 
not satisfied with deriving all the benefits from the southern 
section of the union, that tJiey wouki from so many wealthy 
colonies — with making princely fortujies by the carriage and 
exportation of its bulky and valuable productions — and supply- 
ing it with their own manufactures, and the manufactures and 
productions of Europe and the East and West Indies, to an 
enormous amount, and at an immense profit — have uniformly 
treated it with outrage, insult, and injury. And, regardless of 
their vital interests, the eastern states were lately courting 
their own destruction, by allowing a few restless, turbulent men 
to lead them blindfolded to a separation, which prrgnant mill 
their certain ruin, Whmever that event takes place, they sink to 
their native insignificance. 

If a separation were desirable to any part of the union, it 
would be to the middle and southern states, particularly the lat- 
ter, who have been so long harassed with the complaints, the 
restlessness, the turbulence, and the ingratitude of the eastern 
states, that their patience has been taxed almost beyond en- 
durance. Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked.'''' And he will be 
severely punished for his kicking, in the event of a dissolution 
of the union. 

It ought to be observed, that a very large portion of (he ex- 
ports from the eastern states, consists in the productions of the 
soutliern states, first transported to Boston and other ports, 
coastwise. So that even the comparisons I have made, which 
are so mortal to the pretensions of tiie eastern states, place 
them on far better ground than they really deserve. For ex- 
ample — suppose among the export&of these states, two millions 
of dollars' worth of cotton, one million of dollars' worth of 
Sour, one million of dollars' worth of naval stores, all drawn 
from the southern or middle states — they appear four millions 
pf dollars stronger on the face of the argument, than they arc 
in fact and in truth. And there is no doubt that this is X\\^ 
oase to a va&t extent. 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

Comparison of the exports^ foreign and dcmesdc, cf Ike dijfcrcnc 
states^ from 1791 to 1813. Glance at tonnage. 

To enable the reader to form a fair comparison between the 
commerce of the different stattSj 1 annex a synoptical view of 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



(lie whole of our exports from the organization of the federai 
government till the close of 1813. He will see, at a single 
glance, how very erroneous are tlie opinions tiiat have hitherto 
prevailed on this subject; and how high ef en the foreign com- 
luerce of the southern states soars over that of the boasted 
" commercicd siatesJ^'' 

General total of exports of foreign and domestic productions from the year 

1T91 till 1813 inclusive, 

Massachusetis, Neiv-York. Pei.nsjlrarda. S, Caroliim. Maryland. 

A 98,TT0,000 129,941,000 124,744,000 83,631,000 101,026,000 
78,052,000 65,118,000 14,420,000 50.2t4,000 
85,283,000 44,T96,00J 50,523,000 36,630,000 



B 81,324,000 
C 54,935,000 



.$235,0T9,00O 293,276,000 234,658,0'X) 148,574,000 187,370,000 



A 
B 
C 



Conneciicuf, 

12,323,000 
501,000 
11,614,000 



Rhode Island. 

14,113,000 

6,953.000 
7,789,000 



Virginia, 

53,125,000 
2,355,000 
42,033,000 



Georgia. N. Hampshire 
12,162,000 3,829,000 



190,000 
18,548,000 



24,443,000 28,855,000 98,313,000 30,900,000 

Vermont. X. Carolina. N, Jersey, Delapjare. Orleans. 
165,000 6,764,000 491,000 3,009,000 



1,386,000 
3,147,000 

8,362,000^ 
Columbia. 



B 1,075,000 61,000 187,000 1,713,000 

C 1,217,000 7,055,000 815,000 1,C9T,0'00 16,40S-C'00 13,144,000 



2,457,000 13,380,000 1,313,000 5,819,000 16,403,000 13,144,000 



EXPLANATION. 

The first hne, A, is taken from the table A, page 276. It cODtains the 
whole amount of the exports of foreign and domestic articlei?, fi^om 179t 
to 1802. 

The second ]ine, B, is taken fi-om the table E, page 279- It contains 
the whole of the foreign articles exported from 1802 to 1813. 

The third line, C, is taken from the table C, page 281. It contains all 
the domestic articles exported from 1802 to 181 



Eastern Sec/I'm. 

Mass. 235,075,000 
J^.Ham. 8.362,000 
Vermont 2,457,000 
B. Island 28,855,000 
Con. 24,443^)00 



299,192.000 



Middle Seciion. 

N. Jersey 1,313,( 00 
Delaware 5,519,000 
N. York 293,276,000 
Penn. 234.658,000 



Souihtrn Section 



534,766,000 



Maryland 

"Virginia 

N. Carolina 

S. Carolina 

Georgia 

Orleans 

Columbia 



187,870.000 
98,313.000 
13,880,000 

148,574,000^ 
30,900,000 
16,408,000 
13,144,000 

509,089.000 



23S 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



I cannot eliow these tables to pass vvitbout requesting LUeii- 
Hon to them in the most particular manner. As they throw an 
immense jQood of light on a subject most egregiously misunder- 
stood, and on which the most ruinous errors have prevailed, it 
behoves the reader to test his opinions by them, and lay aside 
the prejudices and misconceptions, if any, which he may have 
formed on these topics. 

AH the late confusion, the tendency to disorganise the coun- 
try, to overturn the government, and to introduce civil war, 
arose from the errors prevailing on the subject of commerce, of 
which the eastern states pretended to be, and were absurdly 
and ridiculously believed, the exclusive guardians and protec- 
tors. It is now clearly and indisputably established, that the 
commerce of the eastern is very far indeed inferior to that of 
4he southern states. It appears, bej^ond the possibility of doubt 
or denial, that the five eastern states, since the formation of the 
government, have exported of foreign and domestic articles, 
fTT^ including an immense amount of southern productions^ only 
about $ 299,000,000 

of which a vast proportion was of foreign productions. But 
that the southern states have in the same period exported to fo- 
reign countries no less a sum than 

$ 509,000,000 

^CF' principally cf their orvn productions or manufactures ^ exclu- 
sive of the prodigious amount of their cotton, tobacco, rice, na- 
val stores, ict, exported by the eastern states. The southern 
section of the anion, v/hich has been so cruelly, so wickedly, 
so uniustlv vilified and calumniated for its hostility^ to com- 
Bierce, is therefore actoally more interested in its preservation 
than the eastern stateSj in the proportion ©f five to three. — 
There is no instance to be found, of so palpable, so gross, so 
unfounded a calumny, resting on such a sandy foundation, so 
open to detection, and so pregnant with most ruinous conse- 
quences, liaving remained so long without investigation. 



From a view of the preceding tables, it appears that the 
commerce of four of the eastern states is to Ihe last degree in- 
significant, compared with that of the southern states, as will 
appear on the following comparisons : — 

I. Virginia, since the organization of the government, has 
exported four times as much as Connecticut ; more than three 
tioies as much as Rhode Island ; twelve times as much as New 



THE OLIVE BRANCH^ 289 

Hampshire; forty times as much as Vermont; and above fifty 

per cent, more than those four states. 

Virginia 98,313,000 
Connecticut 24,443,000 
Rhode Ishmd 28,855,000 
JNTewhampshire 8,362,000 
Vermont 2,457,000 

^ 64,117,000 

II. Maryland has exported nearly eight times as much as 
Connecticut; above six times as much as Rhode Island ; twen- 
ty-three limes as much as Newhampshire ; and ahnost three 
times as much as the four minor eastern states. 

Maryland 187,870,000 
Connecticut 24,443,000 
Rhode Island 28,855,000 
Newhampshire 8,362,000 
V^ermont 2,457,000 

64,117,000 

III. North Carolina has exported almost thirty per cent, 
more rhan Ne\^ hampshi^e and Vermont. 

North Carolina 13,880,000 
Newharapshire 8.362,000 
Vermont 2,457,000 

10,819,000 

IV. Georgia has exported more than Connecticut or Rhode 
Island ; and almost three times as much as iN^e^^hampsi^re and 
Vermont. 

Georgia 30,400,000 
C'mnecticut 24,443,000 
RliOde Island 28,855,000 
Ne^vhampshire 8,362,000 
Vermont 2,457,000 

— 10,891,000 

V. South Carolina has exported above five times as much as 
Rhode Island; above si:i times as much as Connecticut; and 
one hundred and fifty per cent, mot e than the four minor eastern 
states. 

South Carolina 148,574,000 
Rhode Island 24,855,000 
Connecticut 24,443,000 
Four minor eastern states (See No. 1.) 64,1 1 7,000 



290 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



VI. IN'evv Orleans and the district of Colntnbia have export^ 
«d more of dmnestic productions in eleven years, than either 
Connecticut or Rhode Island in twenty-three, of fonign and 
domestic. 

]Vew Orleans 16,408,000 
Columbia 13,144,oOO 

29,552,000 

Connecticut 24,443,000 
liliode Island ' 28,855,000 

VIT. T^ew Orleans has exported nearly twice as much in 
eleven years as Nevvhampsliire in twenty-three. 

T^ew Orleans 16,408,000 
Newhampshire 8,362,000 

VIII. [t7^ Virginia^ Maryland^ and Columiia, have exported 
more than the whole five easlcm states ! !J ! ! ! 

Maryland 187,870,000 
Virginia 08,:no,OOO 
Columbia 13,144,000 



299,327,000 ! ! 1 

rive eastern stales 299,192,000 \ ! ! 

IX. ThcsQhihrra slxU:- hzve exported T 5 per cent, more 
than the Jive eas tern t ! ! 

Southern 509,089,000 ! ! ! 

Eastera 2§9,1 92,000! ! ! 

Since the preceding pa.^es were written, I have examined an 
interesting work, eniilled, A geoscraphical and sv/itistical view 
of Massachosetts proper, by Rodoiphus Dickinson,'' published 
anno 1813. It ^reatlv elucidates the snMect I have been dis- 
€ussing ; and places the unsoundce^s of the high commercial 
claims of Massachusetts in nearly as stronoj a point of light as 
any of the documents 1 have given* 

^ *' The exports in 1809 from Boston and Charleston, of American produc- 
tions and manufactures, were 4 .0Q^,Q2Q dollar?, of whicU the value of rice, cot- 
ton, flour, tobacco, staves, and naval stores, being vrincipUWy ike produce of 
the southern states, was 2,29^,109 dollars." 

The writer adds, 

" This it ig presumed, bears a relative proportion in amount, to the exports C'^ 
'Other yeaij?/» Page 78, 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



291 



It thus appears, that although Boston lias disturbed the tran- 
quiility of the United States by her impASsioned complaints 
on the subject of commerce, and the injury it has sustained by 
the hostility of the southern states, she is indebted to those 
states for coasiderabiy more than half of the American articles 
she exports. She moreover finds an invaluable markei i(h 
them for tlic chief part of her immense foreign importations, 
and for her vahiabie manufactures. 

It really makes my heart ache with vexation, to find that 
such migliiy, such ruinous errors prevailed on those important 
topics — errors that generated the most bakful passions, which 
were hourly increased by artificial excitements, and threatened 
us uith the nifostav.fiil consequeiices. 

TJie reader must not be surprised if I often repeat this senti- 
ment. For " out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
speaketh — and being convinced this was beyond all compar- 
ison the most awful danger that threatened us, it was not to be 
wondered at, that it engros&ed so large a portion of my atten- 
tion. 

I shall conclude this topic with one observation, that as far 
as my knowledged extends, or as far as I am capable of judging, 
there has rarely occurred an instance of one nation so very 
highly indebted to another as the eastern states are to the south- 
ern, and yet making such a very miserable and ungrateful re- 
turn. 

' I imagined that in the preceding chapters I had fully ex- 
hausted the comparison of the commercial importance of the 
several sections of the United States. I had at all events con- 
vinced every man whose mind was open to conviction, that 
he arrogant claims rn this sulgect, of the eastern states, were 
utterly unfounded, and that the middle and southern sections 
lad as nnich more interest in the protection of commerce than 
their eastern brethren, as the merchant who loads a waggon 
with 10,000 dollars worth of goods, has more interest in the 
intercourse between the seller and the consumer, thaai the own- 
er of the wassron. 

But I find I did not do full justice to the subject. A new 
view of it has been presented to the public by the indefatiga- 
ble editor of the Weekly Register, v*'hich far transcends the 
views I took. But even Mr. Niles has not pursued the argu- 
ment to the full extent of which it is suscentible. 

The exports of cotton from the port of Savannah alone, frons 
the 20th of March till the 30th of June, 1815, a period of liiree 
months and ten days, were 



292 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Sea Island, 21,000 bales, each 300 lbs. at 33 - * 

cents, 2,100,000 

Upland, 55,582 bales, each 300 lbs. at twentj 

cents, 3,33-1,000 



5,434,000 

Supposing all the other articles to amount to 1,066,000 



6,500,000 

and also supposing the exports of the renininmg eight months 
and t\^ enty days to amount to half that sum, it is at the rate of 
nearly 10,000,000 dollars for the year. 

A review of the ta!)ie3 in page 287, will show that the whole 
of the exports, of every kind, foreign and domestic, from the 
state of Massachusetts, for twenty three years, were on!y 235,- 
000,000 dollars, which is an average of about 10,000,000 per 
annum, whereof considerably more than half was forei^gn. It 
therefore follows that the domestic exports of the single port 
of Savannah this year will equal the average of the exports of 
every kind froui the mighty, the powerful, the cominercial state 
of Massachusetts, from the time of the organization of the gov- 
ernment till the close of the year 1813 I ! ! 

To7inao;e. 

The eastern states, which maintained sucli arrogant commer- 
cial claims, on the ground of their exports and imports, like- 
wise preferred high pretensions on their transcendant superior- 
ity of shipping. These towering claims are unfounded, al- 
though not in the same degree with the others. Let the reader 
decide. I have before me, a statement of the tonnage of the 
United States for two years, from which I make a few extracts, 
in order to inter these preteasioas in the same grave with the- i 
rest. 



Tonnage of 


1809 


1810 


Boston, 


333,257 


149,121 


New York, 


243,533 


268,548 


Philadelphia 5 


121.443 


125,258 


Baltimore, 


102,434 


103,444 


Portland, 


33,007 


32,599 


Portsmouth^ 


27,719 


28,820 


Bath, 


23,033 


20,344 


Newbury port, 


36,574 


39,100 


Salem, 


43,537 


4L462 


Norfolk, 


40,940 


47,643 


Charleston^ 


40,819 


52.888 



^HE OLIVE BRANCH. 



2§3 



From the above statement it appears that in the year 1810, 
the tonnage of Norfolk as vv ell as Charleston was considerably 
guoerior to that of any port in the eastern or middle states, ex- 
cept Boston, New York, and Philadelphia ; and that the ton- 
nage of Baltimore was more than double that of any port in 
fhe eastern sii te , except Boston. 

The aggregrate loan ige of Vermont, New- 
Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Con- 
necticut, in 181 1, was (tons) ' 108,000 

The city of Baltimore in the same year 103,000 
ihdt is, w ithin 5000 tons of the whole amount of the tonnage of 
liiese four states, which have made such a clamour on the sub- 
ject of commerce. The tonnage of the whole district of Ma- 
ryland for that year was 143,000 tons, being an excess of 33,000 
tons, or nearly one third more than those states ! ! 

The clearances from the port of Savannah, {^J^ exclusive of 
coasters, for April, May, and June, 1315, were 191, and the en- 
tries, also exclusive of coasters, were 203. Whereas the 
foreign entries into the port of Boston for hve months, Mafch, 
April, :May, June, and July, 1815, were only 212— and the for- 
eign clearances only 270- That is, the foreign entries into 
Savannah, in three months, were 203, and into Boston in five 
months, only 212 ! What a developement of the relative com- 
merce of both ports ! how utterly beyond all expectation or 
calculation ! 

/' 

CHAPTER L. 

Another seurce of excitement among the citizens of the eastern 
states. Duties on imports. Statistics. Southern states pay 
very near as much as the eastern. Wonderful delusion. 

Those men whose unceasing efforts were employed to ex- 
cite the passions of the yeomanry of the eastern states, and 
prepare them for insurrection and a dissolution of the union, 
raised a great clamour on the subject of the enormous amount 
of duties paid b}^ those states, and the insignificance of the 
sums paid by the southern section of the nation. They thence 
inferred the injustice and the inequality of the union, and its 
oppressive operation upon the former section. 

* See Weekly Register, vol. VIII page 370, from wliich I have extracted th^se 

Bb 



204 



THE OLiYE BRANCH. 



This item ci complaint is, if possible, more fallacious than 
i\ie one discussed in the preceding chapters, The disatlvaa- 
tage is all on the c(ber side of I he question. The eastern 
states import largely from Europe, and from the East and V/est 
Indies, for the supply of the southern states. The former, it 
Is true, have to bond or pay the duties in the first instance.— 
This appears wonderfully to their advantage in the tables of 
duties. But it can hardly be necessary to inform the reader, 
that the merchant who bonds the duties, is not the actual pay- 
er of them. ' Mr. Edward Thomson, of this city, has import- 
ed, during this year, and of course wil! pay duties on, probably 
above 2,000,000 of dollars. T think it likely that his consump- 
tion is hardly 2/000. Who can be so ignorant as to pretend,, 
that the government is beholden to him for the amount of the 
duties ! They are paid by the farmers in Chester, and Bucks, 
and Lancaster, and Delaware, and Berks counties, Szc, Sic.~ 
The duties are added by the merchant to the first cost, with a 
profit on both — ^^and the ultimate consumer is the real payen 

The eastern states thus levy taxes not merely on Maryland, 
Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, but even on 
Fenosylvania ; for strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless 
Irue, that notwithstanding the immense wealth, the ardent en- 
terprize, and the great commercial advantages of Philadelphia, 
immoderate quantities of East India and Chinese goods are 
sent for sale here, from Boston, Salem, and other eastern ports. 

But even, independent of the importation of the eastern for 
the southern states, the argument is unfairly stated. If the for- 
mev actually consumed all the foreign articles they import, the 
duties they pay, compared with those paid by the southern 
states, will not warrant their holding the high and arrogant^ 
^od insulting tone they have alw^ays assumed. 

To enable the reader to form a corrc^ct opinion on the sub- 
ject, I annex a set of tables of the 

Net mmunt of (he duties paid hythe different States from the year 
1791 to 1812 inclusive, taken from the records of the treasury 



N. HdinpsMre Vermont. Connccficid, R. Island 




congress hy Joseph Nourse, Esq. 



1791 
1792 
1793 
1794 
1795 



$53,000 
41,000 
44,000 
38,000 
44,000 



1,000 



206,000 
142,000 
154,000 
171,000 
155,000 



146,000 
46,000 
133,000 

8^^,000 
244^000 



THE CLFvE BRANCH. 





5S,000 


1,000 


141,000 


137,000 


1797 


27,000 




1] 5,000 


276,000 


1798 


72,000 


1,000 


127,000 


104,000 


1799- 


99,000 


2,000 


£89,000 


260,000 


1800 


142,000 


2,000 


1 69,000 


393,000 


1801 


133,000 




323,000 


284,000 


1802 


1 i 9,000 




262,000 


178,000 


]803 


122,000 


1,000 


301,000 


266,000 


1804 


108,000 




348,000. 


421,000 


1895 


109,000 




354.000 


349,000 


180S 


117,000 




325,000 


363,000 


"1807 


09,000 




314,000 


123,000 


1803 


19,000 




197,000 


270,000 






Q nnA 
y ,uuu 






7810 


53,000 


9,000 


157,000 


435,000 


1811 


62,000 


5,000 


240,000 


318,000 


312 


122,000 


116,000 


829,000 

Ml 


452,000 




1,715,000 


147,000 


5,453,000 


5,420,000 





Ma^sachimt's. 


.V. York. 


Pennsylvania, 


Maryland. 


Vir;:inii. 


1791 


§977,000 


1,564,000 


J, 491, COO 


641.000 


€01,000 


17S2 


678.000 


1,1 69. COO 


1 Oi.6.000 


449,000 


474,000 


1793 


fi50C00 


1,195,000 


],H04,000 


869,000 


388,000 


ITDI 


i,ea'},ooo 


l,8'o0,000 


i '7.',000 


795,000 


389,000 




I,4i#.0Q0 


2.000,000 


2,271,000 


523.000 


396.000- 


J 798 


l,H3i,000 


2,158,G00 


2,012 000 


7t)1.00Q 


598,000 


17^7 


l,:i72,000 


2.053,000 


i.7 {3,000 


1,145,000 


606,000 


IT?3 


1,1GH,000 


1,7*13.000 


1,029,000 


88j 000 


629.000 


1790 


1,607.000 


2,373.000 


1,259.000 


1,101.000 


896,000 


1800 


1, ^"74. 000 


2.741,000 


I,5;j,0(j00 


(>23.000 


644,000 


IHOl 


2,929,000 


3,810,000 


2,123,000 


1,001,000 


746,000 


1302 


1,525.000 


2.190,000 


1,410,000 


634,000 


689,eoa 




2,490,0150 


3,524,000 


1,655.0(0 


936.000 


713,000 


mi 


4,030,000 


3,i}72.000 


2,009,000 


1,533.000 


902.000 


jBO'j 


s,;^OB,oao 


4,832,000 


2,300-,000 


1,130,000 


805,000 


leos 


3.521,000 


4,875.000 


3.017,000 


1,446,000 


620.000 


1307 


3,576,000 


4,926.000 


3,102,000 


1,633,000 


506.000 


1803 


i,i8j,eoo 


2,764,000 


1,647,000 


535,000 


110,000 


iao9 


i, 38 J, 000 


2,981,000 


1,405,000 


155,000 


257,000 


1310 


2,771,000 


4,419.000 


2.53?^,000. 


923 000 


461,000 


rf.ii 


1,811^000 


1,979,000 


1,840 000 


722.000 


195,000 


1812 


2,719,000 


2,890,000 


2,090,000 


1,782,000 


6fe0.00() 




44,338,000 


02,274,000 


41,325,000 


20,345,003 


12,565,000 




N. Carolina^ 


8. Carolina 


Georgia, 


Columhia. 


OrUans 


1791 


S 1 1 5,000 


538,000 


91,000 








78,000 


360,000 


53,000 







2^6 


THE OLIVE BRANCH. 




1793 






Q X AAA 






1794 




fit;! HAA 
Oi? J 5UUU 


87,000 






1795 




/ i U.UL'U 


1^ 4 AAA 






1 79G 




^^fi AHA 


1 AAA 






1797 




TAA nfiA 








1798 




-^0 c*. v/\JU 






17Q9 




5s ^fi 000 








1800 




1 1 sQ 000 








1801 




? 00 '> 000 


f.Fi^ OAA 






1302 


^t"? 000 


9R0 000 


"^1 1 00 


1 AAA 




1 303 




F, IF, 000 


109 AT) A 


1 1*^ Al i A 




i804 


] r>''^ 000 


7 1 000 

f t cut V/ 


1 QA AAA 


1 op AAA 


279,000 


1805 


1 R > 000 




T AAA 


110 AAA 


342,000 


1B08 


9C*'~> 000 


' J . V v 


1 A; - A 


1 *^ • A;'»A 
i . .\J JyJ 


-2(51,000 


1807 


1 On OOO 


T ^ ^ 000 


<CC AAA 


1 '"''^ AAA 


480.0C0 


* O Kj i> 


1 OOO 


9'/ s 000 


X AAA 


rift A 


7 7,0c e 




03.000 


377,000 


6,000 


eo.ooo 


134.0C0 


j SIO 


}S,000 


557,000 


13 ..000 


5C.f 00 


244,000 


" -A "7 
i O 1 i 


t J COO 


r^38 000 


000 


45 000 


IjT; 0^0 




47,000 


435,000 


200,000 


80,000 


13 7,000 




2,62 1 ,000 


12,e65,000 


2.907,000 


1,132,000 


2.202,000 



lo these table?, a? in those of exports, there is no account takea 
)f any sums below lOUO dollars. This operating equally on both sidgs, 
cacnot affect the comparison, which is the object in view. 

From the foregoiiig: tal Jes, the fol]ov^ing results appear. 
I. The southern sii.tes huve paid nearly as lorge an amount 
of duties to the go\ eiumeDL as Ihe easiern. 



Maryland 
Virginia 
North Carolina 
South Carolina 
Georgia 
Columbia 
Orleans 

Massaciiiisetts 
New Hampshire 
Vermont 
Connec4ir.ut 
Rhode island 



20.345,000 
12.565.000 
2,621,000 
12.6G5.000 
2.907.000 
1,132.000 
2.202.000 



1,715,000 
147.000 

5,453.000 
5.420.000 



-54,437,000 
44,338,000 



12,735,000 



57,083,000 



TIfE OLIVE BRANCH. 29T 

n. The single state of South Carolina paid very nearly as 

much duties as the four miiior eastern states. 

South Carolina 12,675,000 
Four minor eastern states, '(see No. 1.) 12,765,000 
ill. New-Orieans paid twenty per cent, more in nine years, 

than Mew Hampshire and Yermont in twenty-two. 

Orleans 2,202,00a 
New H^impshire 1,715,000 
Vermont 147,000 

^ 1,862,000 

> 

IV. Virginia paid nearly as much as the four niiuor eastern 
states. 

Virginia ^ 12,665,006 

Four minor easfero states (see No= 1.) 12,735,000 

V. ]S"ew York and Pennsylvania paid nearly nioety percent, 
more than the five eastern staler. 

New York 62,274,00a 
Pennsylvania 41,325,000 

103,5§9,00G 

Five eastern states (see No. 1.) 57,83,000 

YI. South Carolina naid more than twice the amount of du- 
lies paid by either Conuecticut or Rhode Island ; mven times ae 
snuch as Newhampshire; and ninety times as much as Yermont. 

South Carolina 12,665,000 

Connecticut 5,46a,000 

Rhode Island 5,420,000 

Newhampshire 1,716,000 

Vermont I475DQ0 

Si/nopsis of duties paid from io 1812. 

Hasiern Section ^fiddle Section. Southern Section. 

3!ass. 44 358,000 N. Jersey 259,000 Maryland 20,345,0(50^ 
^^ RamD. 1,T15,000 Delaware 1,225,000 Virginia 12,565,000 
Vermont 147,000 Newlork 62,274,000 N. Caroiirm 2,621,000 
onnect. 5,465,000 Fenn. 11,525,000 S. Caroiina 12,665,000 
it. Island 5,420,000 Georgia 2.907,000 

Columbia 1,132,000 
Orleans 2,202,G^»a' 



57,083,000- 105,081,000 ^4,437.^ 



298 



^ THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



Those vvho consider the very expensive habils of the plan- 
ters of Virginia and South Carolina, and the immense amount 
of foreign goods received in those states fiora the eastern ones, 
as well as from New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland^ and 
how very large a proportion of the foreign merchandise import- 
ed by Massachusetts, is exported to the other states, will pro- 
bably be led to believe, that Virginia and South Carolina actu- 
ally consume each as much of dutiable articles, and of course 
in fact really pay as much duties as Massachusetts. I acknow- 
ledge this is but a rough calculation. But a d'-'e consideration 
of the great number of coasters, which in time of peace, are 
plying from the ports of the eastern and middle to those of the 
southern states, will afford a strong support to this opinion. A 
very large proportion of the cargoes of the coasters bound to 
the southern ports consists of imported goods; and the residue 
generally of articles of domestic manufacture. The retura 
cargoes are all of raw materials for these manufactures, or arti- 
cles of the highest value for exportation to Europe and else- 
where. It is not easy to conceive of a more advantageous 
commerce for the mother countries, as, in this case, the middle 
and eastern states may be justly styled. I repeat it, and hope 
the solemn truth will be borne in constant remembrance, that 
•the southern states are virtually colonies to those states whose 
demagogues have never ceased slandering and persecuting 
them. 

I dismiss this part of my su!)ject, I hope for ever. I trust that 
the most incorrigible effrontery will never dare again to haz- 
ard an assertion of the commercial superiority of the eastern 
states. 



CHAPTER LI. 

Fallacy of the Gpinion of ant/ hdstiliiy in the southern agmnstihi, 
eastern states. Commercial and agriculinral states gradually 
dependent on^ and beneficial to each other. 

Having completely settled the question on the subject of 
the comparative pretensions of the different sections of the 
union to commercial pre-emineriee, I {proceed to consider the 
positions, which assert the necessary hostility of an agricultur- 
al section of a country to a commercial one — the actual exist- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH- 



290 



eQce of thai hostility in the southern states— and its baneful in 
Hiience on the measures of congress. 

On these failacious positions the changes have been rung in 
endless succession, not merely by a crowd of anonymous v, Ti- 
ters, but even public bodies, whose stations CDiitie them to re» 
spect, have disgraced themselves by their dissemination. 1 feel 
satisfied that the lucnbrations on this subject, published in Bcs- 
ton alone, ^vould fill folio vokimes. Throughout the whole, 
strong and confident and unfounded assertion is substituted in 
the place of fact, reason, and argument. 

To enable the reader to form an idea of the errors prevalent 
on this topic, i annex a few extracts. 

*• They have seen at Jirst an ili-concealed. but at last ITJ^ m open undih 
giiiscd jealousy of the weaith and poiier of the ccmmemat dlafes, operating in con- 
tinual efforts to embarrass and destroy that commerce^ r:hich is their rfe C7id sup- 
port.'''* 

This is the language of a report to the legislature of Massa- 
chusetts, made by a joint committee of bolh houses, Feb. I85 
1814, on which was grounded the most infiammatory appeals 
to the citizens of the United States. This report asserted the 
propriety and justice and necessit}^ of forcible ^sistance to the 
measures of the general government;, adding, 

** The question is not a question o\ pov:Ci or right with thi« legislature^ 
feut of time or expediency P 

The committee proceed— 

" There exists in all parts of this commonwealth a fear, and in many 
a settled belief, that the course of foreign and doniesfic policy pursued by 
the government of the United States for several years past, has its fouu' 
dation in a deliberate intention to impair^ if not to destroy^ that f ree spirit 
and exercise of eornmerce, whieh, aided by the habits, manners,, and insti- 
tutions of our ancestors, and the blessings of divine providence, have 
been the principal source of the freedom, wealth, and general prosperity 
of this recently happy and fiou rishiiig people. 

*' These opinions are not confined to the maritime borders of the state, 
whose interests are more immediately affected, and v^hose inhabitants 
have daily before their eyes perishing ships, deserted warehouses, and 
starving mechanics and laborers; but are loudly responded from the in- 
terior, where the people generally sympathise in the present distre.^s of 
their brethren on the sea-coast, and wisely foresee in their ruin, their 
Wn approaching wj-etcbedness.'' 

The committee continue— 

The memorialists see, in this deplorable descent from Rational great- 
Hess, a determinaiion to harass and annihilate that spis-U of commerce 
which ha5 ever l^en the handmaid of civil and religious liberty ; and to 



300 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



break (he free spirit of this people by depi^ivhig them (f their civil tm>' 
floymerds, and thus forcing the sons of commerce to populate and en^ 
rich the wilderness, for the benefit of those whose avarice has contribu- 
ted largely to the war now desolating the country.'-* 

This is the f^train aaJ style in which this miserable, (his 
hacknied, this destructive prejudice has been a hundred thou- 
sand times repeated, without even the shadow of foundalion.— ~ 
Although these ext races are abundantly sufficient for my pur- 
pose, yet I judge it not improper to make a short addition from 
the address of the Hartford convention. 

" Events may prove that the causes of our calamities are deep anil 
permanent. They pjay be found to proceed, not mei-eiy from the blind- 
ness of prejudice, pride of opinion, violence of part\ spirit, or the con- 
fusion of the times ; but they may be traced to implacable cot?itjinalions of- 
individuals or states to mLnopolize power and office, AND TO fRA >l- 
PLE WITHOUT liFMOR UPON THE RIGHTS AND INTE> 
RESTS OF THE COriMKRCIAL SECTtOIV OF THE UNION. 

The a(hiiinistration, after a long perseverance in plans to baffle ft^ry 
effort of ccmmercial enterprise^ had fatally succeeded in their attempts at 
at the epoch of the war." 

The convention enter into an enumeration of the causes 
which have led to the public distress, and close the catalogue 
with 

" Lastly and principally, a visionary and superficial theory in regard. 
io commerce, [IT" ACCOMPANIED EY A REAL HATRED, TUr 
A FEUtNED regard rO rrS interests, and a ruinous perse- 
verance in efforts to render it an instrument of coercion and war." 

Kever since faction first disturhed the peace of mankind, and 
Hiade this earth a suitable abode for demons incarnate, did she 
employ a more hollow, fallacious, or unfounded pretext to justi- 
fy her lawless proceedings, than is here to be combatted. It is 
not merely untrue. It is the reverse of truth. It has not even 
the shadow of plausibilitj. 

In all this WTetched effort to excite the hostility of fellow cit- 
izens against each other— to prepare the inhabitants of one sec- 
tion of the country to iniirrue their hands in the blood of those of 
another — to renew in this holy, this blessed land, the horrors of 
theFrench revolution — to enable American Marats,and Dantons, 
and Legendres, and Robespierres, to rule us with a rod of iron 
■ — an ail-important and overwhelming fact is kept AvhoHy out of 
sight — a fact which destroys the whole of this miserable decla- 
ixjation as completely as ever the broad glare of the torch of 
truth dispelled the Cimmerian darkless of error and delusion , 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



301 



This mighty fact escaped my atieii^ioii in all tlie loirner edi- 
tions uf this book. It is, tliat all the measures vvhirh are as- 
sumed as full proof of hostility to commerce, and charged to the 
debit of the southern states, have been supported by the pow- 
erful commercial stales of Pennsylvania aad New York; stea- 
dily and unfleviatinsrlv bv toe former, and bv the latter with 
very few and slight exceptiens. And further, that a conside- 
rable part of them have been supported by respectable poiii* ns 
of the representatives in congress, from Nevvhampshlre, V er- 
m')nt, Rhode Island, and even Massachusetts — for the thie® 
first states were till lately frequently represented almost w holly 
by democrats, who \y:Mj generally advocated the measures 
herein reprobated. And it is further to be remarked, that the 
crreat ccmmercial cities of the union have been very generally 
represented bv cllizens who h.ave siven their fail aid and su')- 
port to the measures in C|uesiion. The majority for and?gainst 
the admiaistratioG, even in Massachuseiis, till lately rarely ex- 
ceeded '1 or 3,000. The election for governor in that state iu 
1812, was contested with great artior. The friends and the en- 
eu'iles of the udniir/istr^uiou made the utmosi exertions to cail 
forth their whole strength — and the votes were for 

Caleb Strong 52,606 
Eibridge Gerry 51,326 

and it is well known that IVTr. Sullivrin and Mr Gerry, the de- 
raocralic CLindid' tes, were elected four or five times vrithin a 
space of tea years, which embraced nearly the whole of the 
measures thus violently denounc^^d. And I presume no man 
of candor VviU deny that the slru^2;le between the diSferent can- 
didates on these occasions vras as fair and unerring a criterion 
of the voice of the state on the a.r)proval or reprobation of the 
measures of the general government, as if the voles had been 
taken for |>resident of the United States. 

Let us for a moment suppose, for the sake of argument, that 
the eastern states are, as they pretend to be, exclusively com- 
mercial — and that the southern are exclusively a2:ricuituraL 
This is placing the case in the most ad^^antageous point of light 
its friends could desire. Could there be any stronger bond of 
affinity between two nations, or two sections of the same na- 
tion, than the mutual want which this supposed case implies ? 
The agricultural portion would have imp erious necessity for the 
ships, the seamen, and the capital of the commercial portion, 
for the purchase and transport.^tion of her sufieriiuGus produc- 
Hons. And the navigation and capital of the commercial par- 



302 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



lion woiil^l find all the advantages ihev could require in the 
transportation and sale of the })rodacaons of the other. The 
agricultural portion, as I have ah'eady stated, Avould be merely 
in the situation of colonies to the coirimercial. What has al- 
^vays been the grand advantage of colonies to parent countries ? 
Merely to increase their navigation — to afibid an asylum for 
their soperabnndant population — to furnisli ra^v materials for 
the em >iGvment of their ariisaus and manufacturers — and to 
purcliase the [)roductions of the labors of those artisans and 
maniifiicturers. 

All th^se favorable effects have been produced or the east- 
ern by their conneAiou am! intercourse \vi(h the western and 
southern states. It therefore irresistibly fL>!!ows, that the iaiter 
have literally been but colonies to the middle, and more particu- 
larlv to the eastern states. The hardv and enternrisins: Yini- 
kees pervade every bay, river, creek, and in-let of the soiilliern 
gtates ; and for their 7ioiio?is carrv off the solid coin of the 
country to replenish their coSeis. They every where under- 
sell and iindermhie the established southern sioYekeenei's. — . 
Moreover, the cotton, the rice, the (lour, the tobacco, and the 
naval stores of the southern states h ive enabled the ship-Ovvn- 
ers of the eastern states to amass those overgrown nai)ob t^or- 
tuoes, which reader them too aspiring to submit to the equai 
form of government which we enjoy. They have literally 
lived upon the industry of the southern states. Without the 
latter, their section of the onion would rank very low indeed 
in the scale of nations. 

This state of things, so eminently advantageous to the east- 
ern states, has never created faction, or complaint, or coavul- 
- sions, or threats of dissolving the union, in the southern. — 
They have cheerfully supported a government whose chief at- 
tention has been directed to tlie prom.otion of commerce — and 
■ vvhich never did and never would have experienced any very 
great diiScuity with foreign nations but from the cupidity of 
the mercantile interest. 

It requires little effort to prove, and little capacity to per- 
ceive, that there is a commercial rivalry between Boston and 
Providence — between Philadelphia and New York — between 
Baltimore and Philadelphia. But that a serious, thinking jieo- 
ple, like tliose of tiie eastern states, should have ever been 
duped to believe that there is any real cause of jealousy or hos- 
tiity between the commercial and agricultural sections of the 
country, is a folly, of which it is hardly possible to tind a paral- 
lel in the history of the madness and ideocy^ oi the human spe- 
c4e5. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



2Q3 



To view the subject once more — alihough it really does 
not deserve further attention. Suppose, stiil, the southern 
states wholly agricultural, and the middle and eastern wholly 
commercial, and that (he former have an overwhelming majori- 
iy in the legislature of the union. Hov/ could it ever enter in- 
to the mind of any rational being to imagine, that the majority 
couid for a moment he ignorant of the plain truth, that every 
stroke aimed at comaierce was a stroke at their own \itai inte^' 
rests ? 

It is well known, that the representatives of the southern 
^nd western states are generally gentlemen of the highest grade 
of talents in congress. From causes which it is neither n^ces- 
sarv nor proper here to detail, the middle slates have rarely 
made as respectable a figure in that body as could have been 
wished. The eastern have not been quite so unfortunate. It 
requires, however, but a moderate portion of candour to ac- 
knowledge, that although they are occasionally represented in 
con;;res3 by men of considerable talenls, they are in the og- 
gre2;ate far below Virginia, South Carolina, and Kentucky. — 
And^couid this plain truth escap»e (he Eppeses, the Gileses, the 
Clays, and jije Po,.es, that it was im'possihle to injure commerce 
without inflicting an equal injury on agriculture '! 

The agricultural portion of this great nation could inBnilely 
better dispense with the commercial, than the latter with the 
former. Never, since commerce first began, did a nation, hav- 
ing bulky raw materials to sell, and having demands for large 
quantities of merchandize, and any diOicuj ty in creating a ma- 
rine, or, amidst naval competitors for her trade, in securing the 
transportation of her coiTimodities, and the purchase of mer- 
chandize, on fair and advantageous (crms. But the decay of 
Portugal, Venice, Genoa, the Hanse Torvns, and other great 
commercial states, proves that a nation possessed of a considev- 
-aile marine, may, if it affront or offend the nations on which it 
depends, be reduced to its native and intrinsic insignificance. 

The eastern states labor under very great disadvantages, — 
The sterility of their soil will leave them eternally dependent 
upon th#' southern states ; for their situation imperiously forces 
them to have recourse to manufactures and commerce. Their 
agriculture must always be comparatively insignificant. They 
therefore,! repeat, owe their greatness principally to the im- 
nv nsely valuable trade they carry on with those states, which 
their ungrateful writers and demagogues are constantly vilify- 
in^: and abusinsf, an<l which afford the principal pabulum for the 
con merce of rbe middle rnd eastern states. Those demagogues 
are, as I have stated^ unceasingly escidng animosities between 



304 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



the two secticns cf the union, by pretending a rivalry of tntep- 
esiSjVvhich is wholly unfounded. There isjet me re])eat,real cause 
of je.ilousy betweea Rhode Island and Massachusetts : but none 
between either ef thera and- Virginia or feouth Carelina. The 
latter are, and will probably forever continue, 2:reat agricultural 
states. Tlieir immense and growing productions will find the 
most vahiabie employment for the shipping and for the manu- 
factures of the eastern and middle states. 

Should a separation take place, which I hope and trust in 
ihe goodness of Heaven is far remote, ihe eastern slates will 
repent it first and last. They will have reason eternally to la« 
ineut the unhallowed counsels of those restless demago^^ues, 
^ ho shall have plunged them into the abyss of ruin. Their 
hardy sons, who now migrate to the southward and westward 
by hundreds, will a;>an<ion their native soil by thousands — and 
daily adil streugth to the rival section of the nation, and cqual- 
iy enfeeble the pare nt states. The latter will dwindle into the 
insignificance from which they hare been elevated by the trib- 
ute they have levied upon Virginia and her southern sisiers. 

The horrors of an immediate CIVIL WAR, and of a con- 
stant BORDER WAR, szich as foniurly existed htiwecn Eng- 
land and Scotland^ f,re the only considerations that render a sep- 
aration from Massachiiseits a measure io be at all deprecated. — 
Were we insured from these two evils, the separation ^^ouid bo 
an advantage to the rest of the nation; for she has harrassed 
the national councils to a most* intolerable and shameful de- 
gree. 

She has appeared determined, if she could not rule the countiy 
herself io send it to destruction headlong. She has been for years 
the source of most of the difficulties of the union. We should 
not have had war but for her.^ And among the features of the 
present crisis, the most Irtmentable one is, that she cannot suf- 
fsr the consequences of her fcliy, her arrogance, her restless- 
iiess, her faction, her jacobinism, her anti-Washingtonism, with- 
out inOicting an equal degree of misfortune on her innocent 
neighbours. Could she suffer alone, it were " a consiimmaiion 
most devoutly to he wished.^'' A strong navigation act, and dis- 
criminating duties, would soon bring her to her senses, and con- 
vince her of the immeasurable folly and madness she has been 

* This assertion h^s been cavilled at by a Boston Trriter but not refuted. Bog- 
tou, by her jacobinic^l opposition to the peaceable nieasiires adopted to obtaio 
from England that redress for which she herself had so loudly insisted on the in- 
terference of government— and by her excitement of a similar opposition through- 
out the p'^stern states geueral]y, defeated those measures, and encouraged Eng- 
land to proceed in her outrages — which finaliy led to war. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



305 



•guilty of. They would sink her to her proper level — that lev- 
el, which her ungrateful soil — her insignificance in point of pop- 
ulation — and the narrow limits of her territory, prescribe — and 
w hii^h, I repeat, nothing but the advantages she has derived from 
her persecuted, insulted, outraged, and defamed sister states, 
could have enabled her to pass. She would repent of her ia- 
fatuation, and most anxiously seek to be restored to a confed- 
eracy, on the major part of which she had unceasingly levied 
heavy contributions, and to which she owed all that prosperity, 
that wealth, and that affluence, which had rendered her dizzy, 
inflated her with pride and arrogance, and brougut on her down- 
fall. 



CHAPTER LII. 

Money the sinews of War, Associatmis to prevent the success of 
the Loans, Efforts to bankrupt the Governm n '. 

Money has long been proverbially styled the sinews of war. 
It is no misnomer. Soldiers cannot be raised — nor put in mo- 
tion — Qor arrayed in the field of battle, v^ithout money to clothe 
and to feed them. A government at war, and destitute of fimds 
or credit, must succumb to its adversary — bend the neck to he 
voke — make humble submission — and receive the law {r^n\ he 
conqueror. To these truths history bears ample and uniform 
testimony. 

Under this impression, shortly after the declaration of war, 
there was a combination formed to prevent the success of the 
loans authorised by congress. I believe that nearly all those 
who entered into this scheme resided in the eastern states, par- 
ticularly in Boston, which was the grand focus of the eonspi- 
racy. ^ 

No measure, however atrocious, ever wasdestitufe of a plau- 
sible {'lea to palliate or justify its enormity. This high handei! 
conspiracy to destroy the credit of the government of their 
country, which originated among the " moral and religious peo- 
ple" of Boston, was predicated upon two positions : 

First, that Enscland was, and had always been, willing to 
make a treaty with us on fair and honourable terfus ; and that, 
so great was her magn'jn^mi^y, she would t? kf^ no advantage of 
any embarrassments or diificidties that ti^ight arise fi'om thedes- 
truction of the public credit. 

C c 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Secondir, that our administration was so obstinatelv defes- 
mined to continue tlie war, that it v^ould make no litace wiiiie 
it iiad the means of carrying on hostilities, 

A corollary from these positions was, that if the conspira- 
tors prevented the success of the loans, and deprived the gov- 
ernment of the means of prosecuting the \\ ar, \\e should in 
consequence have peace."^ 

These extravagant positions niiiEt excite tlie amazement of 
any calm observer. " But as soon as he should Le acqu inted 
" v/ith the nature and existence of prejuciice, passion, obstina- 
*'cy, ^\i!i*u!ness, wickedness, and above all, v^ith the character 

and inOueiice of party spirit, the mystery ^ould vanish at 
"once : tor it would then see that these, and not reason, de- 
cide. P^c as on asks for facts and ar gin nerds. Frgudicc, pas- 

si on, ^ and the re ':t. ask for names, sounds^ 7ioise, and fury. By 
those tlvy are impclkd — hy these they dieide.'^ 

Our government had -given four strong and irresistible proofe 
of a disposition to conclude the war, which musi carry convici 
lion ta^e very candid mind. 

First, on the 27ih of June, 1812, it had ciiered the British 
government an armistice on the simple and reasonable condi- 
tions of suspending, durjjpg the negociation, the outrageous in- 
jury of impressment, and surrendering the American seamen 
previously impressed. The suspension of impressment at 

tjiat period could iiot have occasioiied Great Britain any possible 
disadvantage for, having nearly annihilated all the rival na- 
v.ies of Europe, her slock of sailors cculd not require to be re- 
plenished by impressment from our vessels. And as she had 
at all times professed a willingness to surrender our seamen, 
there could have been no difficulty on the second point. She 
ou2:ht, therefore, to have met our amicable overtures with frank- 
ness. If she were fighting; for her existence, as has been said a 
tliousandtim.es; if it werejeopardized !)y our hostility; it was the 
quintessence of madness and folly, not to have withdrawn us from 
the number of her enemies when she could have effected that 
grand object on such easy terms, without impairing her credit 
pr character. 

* This paragraph was written in September last. The resnlt of the negoriSb 
lions al Ghent fully e?tablishp? the folly a? well as the wickedness of the?e pro- 
ceedings. Th? public mind has been since very considerably undeceived on thej^^ 
j)0^.nts. I have beard gtvntlemen rejoice at ths succes!^ of the illustrious htro, 
J?.ckscn. at New Orleans, a? leading to peace, who. one or two years since, were 
so mi?f rably deluded hr to believe that the road to a ces*ation of war lay through 
the defeat, di^erace and d -aster rf the ;*rm.e of their native country ! 

f The Examiner, by Barent Gardenier, vol. i. page bl. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



SOT 



Secondly, it bad promptly accepted the Russian oiediatioa 
for the termlKatioa of hostilities. 

Thirdly, to reruove ail diificulty on the important subject of 
impressment, aa act was passed by congress, on (he 3u of 
31trch, 1813, miking such provisions, to commeace frora tire 
close of the war, as to secure Great Britain against the seduc- 
tion or employment of her seamen on board our vessels, public 
or private.^ 

Fourthly, and most particularly, in the appointment of three 
niialsters to negociate, Mr. Bayard, a decided federalist, was 
cliosen — a gentleman of high standing with his own party — of 
considerable talen-s — ^^and strenouusly op|>osed to the adminis- 
tration. Unless his instructions had been fair and honoraljle, 
lie would not certainly have accepted the appointment. 

In the appointment of ministers in England or elsewhere, I 
believe no similar instance has occurred of the choice of a 
person hostile to the administration who appointed him. It w -iS 
a very gireat effort to remove suspicion and Jealousy from the 
public mind. Nothing but the incurable folly and madness 
engendered by faction, could possibly resist the fair inference 
warranted by this appointment. But it was wholly unavailing. 
Faction is now, ever has been, and ever will be, deaf, aud 
dumb, and blind, to reason and common sense. 

These four f-icls notwithstanding, the persuasion was— gener- 
al among the " Peace Party^'^ that the government was averse 
from closing the war. The talents of the federalists in the 
eastern states and elsewhere, were now put in re • jisltion to 
impress this idea on the public mind. The most unceasing ef^ 
forts were employed on the subject. The leaders of the party 
affected to l^e, and the others were, inflexible in the 0|}imon : 
^ In consequence every possible exertion was made, particu- 
larly in Boston, to deter the citizens from subscribing to the 
loans, in order to disable the government from carrying on the 
war, and of course force it to make peace. Associations were " 
entered into in the most solemn and public manner to this ef- 
fect. And those who could not be intluced by mild means, 
were deterred by den jnciations. A folio volume might be fill- 
ed with the lucubrations that appeared on this subject. 

'I'he pulpit, as usual in Boston, came in aid of the press, to 
secure success. Those who subscribed, were in direct ternris 
declared participators in, and accessaries tOj all the " murders^* 

* Among the members who voted apcainst this bill were Messrs. Josiah Quincey . 
and Tobn Randolph. Their motives mast have been very extraordinary 1 carr= 
sot fstham theis. 



308 THE OLIVE BRANCH 



as they x^ ere termed, that might take place ia the " unholy^ ur- 
rigJdems^ ivicked, abmninahle^ and accursed wary^ 

To enable us to judge of the wickedness cf these proceed- 
ings, let us examine what would be the consequeace of com- 
plete success. No diminution of the guilt of any act arises 
from its failure to produce its usual and Intended effect. The 
man who fires a pistol with intent to idli, is, in the eye of Heav- 
en, a murderer equally with him whose ball passes through the 
brains of his victim. 

Had com.ilete success crowned the efforts of the conspirators, 
these awful consequences wo dd have taken place : 

First, a national bankruptcy.! The public creditors, and 
Ibose who depend on tliem, would have been ruined. 

Secondly, v.'ith the downfall cf the public stock, w^ould have 
fallen the stocks of banks, insarance-companies,:j: <fcc. Sic, 

Thirdly, orivate bankruidcy would have followed to an en= 
c^i rnius extent ; and wide spread ruin would have pervaded tlie 
national 

Fouvilny, tlie national armies must have been disbanded, and 
Ah^. frontiers exposed to the desolating effects of the hatchet 
-and tomahawk. Tiie aged matron — (he chaste and tender 
vvUe — the biocnilng maiden — the decre[)id grandsire — ^^the man- 
ly fitber — and the helpless infant — all would have been involv- 
ed in one wide, impartial, and undistinguishing destruction ! 

Fifthly, our seaport towns would have been exposed to the 
mercy of Cockburns and Gordons. They would have shared 
the fate of Alexandria, of Hampton, of Havre-de-Grace, and 
of Frenchtown. 

And Sixthly, to close the awful catalogue, our government 
W'Ould be laid at tiie mercy of Great Britain ; — and, depri\^d 
of the means of resistance, must have submitted to whatever 
ignominious terms she mighi choose to impose. 

These w ere the results that must have taken place, had com- 
plete success crowned the horrid project. Never was more ua- 
holy purpose attempted. * 

It is highly probable that many of the persons engaged in 
this conspiracy did not contemplate such extensive results. — 
They may have looked no farther forward than to the restora- 

'* See chapter LVl. 

f After the above was written, this effect was produced to a certain extent by 
Ibis conspiracy. 

X This consequence took place to a most alarnnin? degree. 

II Strong tnces of the pernicious effects of this conspiracy appear throughout 
tbf» union. Some of the conspirators fell ualamented victims to their own maclr- 
ir/ation-. 



THE OLIVE BllANOH. 



309 



tion of peace. But the leaders in the scheme were too keen, 
too shrewd, too profound, and too hostile to the government 
of their country, to allov/ lu to extend to them the same de- 
gree of charity. Their minds must have grasj)ed all the stu- 
pendous and awful consequences ; and they had reconciled 
themselves to the wide spread devastation. 

The success in the eastern states was considerable. Few 
men have the courage to stem the tide of popular delusion when 
it sets in very strong. There were some, however, who sob- 
scribed openly, in defiance of iienuaciatious and threats. Oth- 
ers, of less firm texture, loaned their money by stealth, and as 
clandestinely as if it were treasonable. V/hat, alas ! must be 
the awfui state of society, when a free citizen is afraid of lend- 
ing his money publicly, to support the government that protects 
him — the mildest form of government ever vouchsafed by 
Heaven to man — whose mildness ena!)led its enemies to jeop- 
ardize its very existence ! Who, that has a soul to feel— vrhOj 
that has a sr>ark of patriotism or public spirit in his frame, but 
must be fired with a holy indi2:natioii at such a hideous, such a 
horrible state of the public mind I 

Money is such a drug (the surest sign of the former prosperity, and f-reserd 
insecurity of trade) that ineu ag^in'^st their conscienceSv their honour, their duty, 
their professions and PROMISES — are willing to lend it secretly — to support the 
-ery measures which are both intended and calculated for their ruin."* 

This paragraph, the production of John Lowell, establishes 
the existence of a combination to prevent the success of the 
loans, who had promised''' each other, or pledged themselves, 
not to subscribe : some of whom, nevertheless^ did subscribe — 
but, to avoid the reproaches and persecution of their associates, 
did it " secretly^ This conclusion irresistibly failows. These 
promises not to lend their money ^' must refer to the combina» 
tion I have stated. It can have no other meanina;. . And the 
fair construction of their lending secreclhf can be no other 
thaa that they were liable to disgrace with, or persecution from,, 
their party, if they were known to lend. 

Of the species of denunciations held out to deter from sub- 
scriptions, some idea may be formed from the following para- 
graphs, taken- from vaiious Boston papers. 

^ it T ' 

Lti no man who wishes io continue, the war by active means, by vote or 
lendiag money, dare to prostrate himself at the ailtar on the 
EAST DAY ; for they are actually as ranch partakers in the icar^ as the sol' 
dier who thrusts the bayonet ; and THE JUDGMENT OF GOD WILL 
AWAIT THEM.'? 

* Sse R«ad t® Ruin, No. ^ 

C C 2 




Will fedaralisls subscribe to the loan P will they lend money to our nation.ii- 
rulers ? It is impossible. First, because of the principle ; ar;d secondly, be 
cause of principal and interest. If they lend money now, they mike themselvt s 
parties to the violations of the constitution, the cruelly oppressive measures in 
relation to commerce, and to all the crimes which hav« occurred in the field and 
in the cabinet. To what purpose have federalists exerted themselves to s!io',y 
the wickedness of this war, to rouse tlie public sentimeni against it, and to show 
the authors of it not only to be unworthy of public confidence, but highly crim- 
inal, if now they contribute the sums of money without which, these rulers must 
be compelled to stop ; mu^t be compelltd to return to the pol cy and measures under 
wj^i^4feks.oyntry once.^:a«<^ in^^ng^yjarnros^^ 

By tl^e magnaftltnous coarse poi n te^^Q^'^jgoYer^^'^Xvor^g^ that is, by with" 
olding all voluntary aid in prosecuting the war, and manfully expressing our o- 
pinion as to its injustice «nf4 ruinous tendency, we have arrested its progress j 
ondj driven hack Us nuUiors io abandon Iheir ncfariowi schemes^ and to Look am 
irmslyfijr pt^ace^ What theii if we now lend them jJ^oxiey S,,^,JineymIl nol mnkt 
peace ; urey wiirstiirhaillcer for i;an?aa ; they will eall assemble forces, ai.d 
shed blood on our western frontier. Mere pride, if nothing else, would make 
them doit. The motive? which first brought on the war, will still continue it, ii 
Tiioney can be had. But some say — 7vill you let the country become bankrupt ! no, 
ihe cTdviry rdll never become bankrupt. But pray do not prevent the abu- 

I5I-RS OF THEIR TRUST BECOJIING BANKRUPT. Do UOt preyppt^ them fr OlD ^jj^fiQifftr 

ing odious to the pubjjj^^ andj*r^ldced by better pijen.'>^jg^7s» J'ny 'ffderatistnko 
fttnU^Pfk&Ht^'^^^ haiid^viui James Midi son, and 

I rlaim feHows^,ip with Pelix Gruiulv. f^;;^ Let him no more call himself a feder- 
I alisl and friend to his cmntry ! ! ! lltj WILL BE CALLED BY OTHERS, 
/ INFAMOUS !!,!!!:! 

>' But, secondly, federalists will not lend money, because they will never get it 
&:^ain How^ where, and when, are the government to get money t )|'p3y interest ? 
I And rrj^ nho can tell whether f uture rulers may think the debt contacted under 
■ iich r.'rcum^ytances^ and by men who lend money to help out measures which they 
have loudly and cowdantiy condtnvned, ought to be paid. On the whole, then, 
there are two very strong reasons why fedes alisis will not lend money — first be- 
cause it would be a base abandonment of poiiticcd and moral pHnciples ; and sec- 
^ ondly, because it is pretty certain they will never be paid agair* 

It is very grateful io find that the universal sentiment is, that [Tj^ ANY 
M\N WHO LENDS HIS IVJOf^EY TO THE GOVERNMEiMT, AT 
V THE PRESENT TIME, WILL FORFEIT ALL CLAIM TO COMMON 
' HONESTY AND COMMON COURTESY AMONG ALL TRUE 
I FRIENDS TO THE COUNTRY !!!!!! God forbid that at.y federalist 
1 'should ever hold up his hand to pay federalists for money lent to the present ru- 
p lers : and federalists can judge whether democrats will tax their constituents to 
lay iritprest to.{ed£i:a]ig^..lL..Sps'^^^« G^zg^^^ ' 




appeared in tiie leaerai papi 
1813. 

Oar merchants constitute an hon Durable, high.-mmded, independerit, and in- 
ieinaent class of citizens. They feel the oppression, injury, and mockery, with 
whi^!h they are treated by their government. They will lend them money to re- 
ti ac^ their steps— but none to persevere in their present course, rrja Lei every 
kighrvaymanj^nd his own pistols. Boston Gazette. 

We have only room this evening to say that we trust no true friend to /a'j- 
tountry rv'll be found among the subscribers to the Gallatin loanV New- York" 

^'^^ No'^D^ace will ever be made, till ihe people gay there sliall be no war. ff 
•fdie rich mea caatiiiae lo furnish csoney, tha mir ndll cordinue HU ilf^ mmniaim 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



311- 



i^ : melted iiitk blood — till every Jie.ld in Jnmn'ca is rvhlte rciih the hnne^qfthi 
pt iph.'^^ Discourie delivered at Bj-field, April 7, 1814. Ey Eiijaii Parith, D. 

1 " If tliis war is to be .supported by loans, paper stock -^il I breed as fast and 
?^i.>ler than merinoes. The neeces, if your p i?tures are ^ood, will yield the inter- 
<!st ; but for your iuterest of p^per slock", \gu iiiii:>t yield a fleece of loans aunii- 
ally from your own pockets. The admiral and tiie purser have ijilbrmed tiie 
erew, tiiat tiiey have but few shot in the looker ; they must be replenished, or- 
the war laurf I? must wither, in our old war, when private men were public 
creditors, and became? somewhat impatient of public dr-lay, the adininisU alion 
would promise th^rao;ie new doilar for two hundred old ones, and try their pa- 
tience again, rj^^p M^y brother farmers^ if you k-ive m mey to let, lei ii hy. If 
the war coniinucs. you iiill purchase your s'ock at four years old^ cheaper than you 
cm raise it ; so unju>t is this offensive war i.-i which our rulers have plunged us, 
in the sober cons^ideration of miilJoas. that Ihty cannot comcientioudy ap- 
firoach the God cf armies for his blessing upjn 27.'* Bosloa Centiael, 13th, Jaa- 
uarv, lolS. 

i 

The followia2: Rdvertisenierus conlani volumes. They e- 
viace, beyond the power of doubt or denhiK the horrible state 
to which a few fMCtious, violent men, hy (heir sonable [>rac- 
tdces, had red^:>ced the town of Boston, vvheu tiiose who were 
disposed to support their own govenmient, were obliged to do 
it as clandestinely as if they were engaged in some dangerous 
conspiracy- 

The Neu: Lea^, 

From the Boston Chronicle, April 14, 1l-14. 

Prom the advice of several respected friends, we are induced to announce to 
he public that subscriptions to the new loan will be received by u^-as agents uh- 
the 2dth in!?t. from individuals, or incorporated bodies, in ^^ums of § 500 aod 
upwards. The subscriptions to conform to the regulations announced oy the set> 
retary of the treasury, dated ?th April. Paymerrts may be made in Boi-ton mo- 
aey, or in any other in the United Slates, the subscriber paying the cu.«;toiijary 
rate of discount. Applications will be rexfeived from aiiy persons who wish to 
receive their interest in Boston bv letters post paid, or h? wrlrten Replications 
from individuals in Boston, rr7= AND THE NAMES CF ALL 
BER55 SH \LL BE KNO\tT> ONLY TO THE UrS' DERS(GNED. accord- 
ing to tiie proposals of the s*vcre^ary of the treasury (for more particulars see 
his advertisement ;) each applicant must Dame the higliest rate he will give : and 
if the loan is granted lower than his proposal, it will of course be for his bene^t : 
but on theotiier hand, it higher lie will lose the benefit cf being a subscriber — 
The certificates^ and ail the business relating to it, vrili be delivered free of 
charge. 

GILBERT t DEAN, Broker^: 
Exchange Co fee House, Bostm, April \ 2. 

From the Boston Gazette^ Jprii H, 18 14^ 
THE LOAN. 

Subscriptions ttiH be received through the agency of the subscriber to the 
25th inst. inclusive. 

To zvoid the inconvenience of personal appearance to subscribe applica- 
tions in writing will be received from any part of the state. Each applicant will 
same the highest rate he will give, and if the loan shall be granted lower thaa 
proposal, he wii] resp the benelit ; but if higher thaa hk offer, he will have- 



V 



^12 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



no share in it. The aiiiount, rate, and rr^^ NAME OF ANY APPLICANT 
SHALL, AT HIS REQUEST, iBE KfuJWN ONLY TO THE SUBSCRI- 
BER-. All the business shali be transacted, and certificates delivered to tiie sub- 
scribers rvithout expei2se.'* 

JESSE PUTNAM. 

On the above advertisements, and others of a similar charac- 
ter, (he following comments were published in the same paper. 

*' H!nv degraded musf, our government be, even in ihdr orvn eyes., when they re- 
sort to suca tricks to obtain money, nhich a common Jeiv broker nculd be ashamed 
of. They mast be well acquairited with the fabric of the iiitn who are tc loan 
them mone}', when they offer, that if they will have the goodness to do it ihdr 
7\cmes shall not be exposed to the rv or Id. They know right well tiiat rrj=> the 
muse is so sneaki'ng arid vile, that nobody would be seen in the br> ad day- tight to 
lend them money. ^ However it is consistent with the system of deception ard 
double dealing which they have always pj"acti?ed. 

*' Capitalists may be induced to sub-cribe to the Joan, because it will tend to- 
shorten the war. But what pledge have they when th-ey have poured all their 
cash into the lap of govet naient, that the war will end ? 

No one doubts of their rancour and ill-will towards Engia.nd ; that they are 
billing to fight her as long as they can get money. Well then, if tL-ey can gull 
the rich men, and get as many loans as they ask for, 7v{ll they not Jighi till thai is 
gone ? yea, and until they can negotiate new loans upon the same let ms ? 

Perhaps monied men may be bribed by the high interest that is offered. But 
if they withhold their aid, and so force the government into apeace^ will not their 
capital be better employed, if engaged in trade ? will they not have better secu- 
rity for its payment, and at their command when they asl for it ? 

On the whole, we think it no way to get out of the war, to give money to the 
government, when the very thing that jirevents them from carrying i; on, is (he 
Tvant of money.'''' Boston Gazette, April 14, 1814. 

After having intimidated (he citizens from lending their mo- 
ney publicl}^ by the most inljammatory, and seditious, and 
threatening publications, of which the preceding extracts afford 
a slight sjiecimen, these writers revile and abuse the govern- 
ment, because those who ivish to lend, are invited by the hrekers 
to do it secretly t What transcendant wickedness and injustice ! 

Hundreds of similar paragraphs and essays were written 
with a view to dissuade and intimidate monied men from sub- 
scribing to the loans. Canting hypocrites, who were violating 
the fimdamental laws of society, encouraging " smuggling," and 
perjury," — "acquiring ill-gotten wealth at the expense of pub- 
lic morals" — and endeavouring, though a small minority, io 
trample down the majority, had the wickedness to invoke " the 
judpneni of God,^'' upon the supporters cf a law ful and mild 
government ! 

In the middle states, the federalists did not enter into the 
project, or to a very limited extent. Many of them were sub- 
scribers — some on a very liberal scale. And thus the loans, in 
spite of the press, and the pulpit, and the efforts of the conspi- 
rators succeeded, to their infinite mortification. New means 
were brought into operation, ^bkh were temporarily crowned 
%yith »ucce«s, 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



316 



CHAPTER LIII. 

Smuggling carried to agrecU excess in Boston. Specie ahundani 
there. Oppressive drafts ofi New-York, Arrange?nenti} be- 
tween persons in Canada and in Boston. Government Bills. — 
Treason in the United States. Misprision of treason. High 
treason in Great Britain. Hangings drawing and quaHering. 

HoAV strong soever may be the general sense of the infciniy 
of smuggling, it has ahvaj^s prevailed; and will never be whol- 
ly suppressed, Avhile it holds out siich great advantages, and 
"while thes e are men to be found ^vho worship gain as their Godo 
It is not therefore surprising, that the n'^n-imrortation, the em° 
hargo, &c. being denounced as oppressive, unjnst, and nncon- 
slitiitional — and the war as wicked, and unprovoked, and cor- 
rupt, smuggling siioidd be carried on to a most prodigious ex- 
tent, especially as the public papers in Boston repeatedly invi- 
ted and urged the citizens to set the restrictive system at defi- 
ance. These circumstances conspired to supply that town with 
smuggled goods on a very large scale. 

Of the extent to w hich smuggling, and fraud, and perjury 
have bei!ii carried ia Boston, some idea my be formed from the 
following "precious confession,'' written by John Lowell. It 
degcribea a state of society not exceeded in the most corrupt 
countries in Europe. 

** Encouraged and protected from infamy hy the just odium agamsi the nar, 
they engage in lan le&s speculations — sneer at the restraints of conscience-^ 
•tough at perjury — mock at legal restraints — and acquire an ill gotten wealth at the 
expense of public morals^ and of the more sober, consdtntious parts qf the commu- 

It was worthy of the most serious reflection of the honoura- 
ble aad public-spirited federalists of the middle and southern 
states, how far they could, without disgrace and dishonor, "-fol- 
low the lead"^ of a town Vvhere such a state of things existed-v 

* Road to Ruin, No. 6. 

+ Mr. Lowell denies that the above portrait was draw-n for BostoH. He saj^g, 
" the remarVs were intended to apply to other states than M «23arhu?etts"~HLit 
he does not specify which are the states. I have reconsidered the subject, ^nd 
am not disposed to admit his defence. The depravation of morals he describes, 
is, he says the result of 57?i«o-g-/in^." 4nd this is protected from infamy by 

Che just odium against the war." Now it is well known that there was no part 
ot the united States where smug2;ling was carried on so largely and so barefac- 
edly as m Boston — and none where so much pains were taken to excite the pub- 
lic passions against the war, or with so muej) success. It is therefore not in Mx- 
Loweirs power to remove the fairness of the application. 



314 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



\There no regard was paid to the " restraints of conscie^Ke'' — 
where " pei jury" was a subject of " laugiiier'' — v\here ''legal 
restraints'''^ were " set at defiance" — and wiiere 'public morals''' 
were sacrificed to the acquisition of ill-gotten wjaitlx,^'' — What 
an awful consideration it is, that such a description of citizens 
should have hid it in their power ;n iterially to tttliect the desti- 
nies of eight millions of people and their posterity ! tor it is a most 
frightful trulh, that all the violent, lawless, jacobiaical, and 
wicked measures, Mhich were driving this country to perdition, 
had their orjo^in in Boston, where " peijury and smuggling," 
were the roads to fortune — and where conscience all'urded no 
restraint."* 

Mr. Lowell, after drawing this frightful picture, endeavours 
to make the administration .nswerable for the whule to "a just 
God," who knows how to trace the ceuises of himan events.'''—^ 
This is moBi sorry and contemptible canting, and can deceive 
no man beyond the rank of an ideot. This hideous derange- 
meiit of morals is solely the production of faction, which con- 
secrates every means, however wicked, to answer its vile pur- 
poses. 

Adiulnistrntion Iiirellags may revile Ihenortliern states, and the merchants 
generiJly (ci ^^^^ this monstrous depravation rf morels, this eiecrahle course /o 
smuggling nn>J Ji\'ud But i • '•i p is a just God, who knowg how to trac^ the 
causes o ' hum m eveHts : Uid he n-ill assuredly visit upon the a\ith9rt of this 
7var, all the iniquities of nhicfiif has been the occasion. If the guilty deserve uur 
$€orn or our pilyy the tempters and seducers deserve our execration.'' 

This is very just and true. The guilty deserve our scorn. — 
The seducers merit execration. But who, let me ask were the 
seducers ? Those, indubitably, who for so many years had 
been employed, by every means, however base or vile, in ex- 
citing the people to forcible opposition to the rulers of theii 
choice — who had, in the public papers, openly invited those,, 
who needed no such invitation, to violate laws fairly and con- 
stitutionally enacted, which they falsely denounced as oppress 
ive and " uticotistitutionaV These were '' the seducers.'' These 

^ * I wish here to avoid being misunderstood. This statement respecUng Boston 
13 to be received with due qa:jlification3. I nave numerou? and most estimable ac- 
quaintances in Boston— equal in point of honour and mte^rity to any citizens in 
the United St.^tes. And such I consider the mass of tne inhabitants. But in 
times of factious violence, the worst men always ri-e uppermost ; g.iiH the ascen- 
dancy ; give the tone to public measures ; and establish an arbitrary sway — 
And men who '* lau2:h at perjury," and sneer at the restraints of conscience," 
are precisely those who in such times of frenzy bear sway over their fellow citi- 
sens. and bs^ar down or force with tiiem the disp i?sionate a'jd we'i intentioned.— 
At all invents, the picture of Bosto i is i.ot mine .T itb .:i?o. recr, 1 im not an-; 
swerab e Let Mr Lowell and his frieuds settle the accoaut between them, 
f Road to ^uin, No* 6. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. SIS 

vere the mna on w horn heaven in its righteous decrees, would 
•* visit all tiu iniquities,'' to whica their am Jiiion, tiieir turbu- 
lence, and their factious 6,nni had given occasion. 

iViany vnluaole Britisii i^nzes were sent in.o Jioston, which 
greatfy x \de t t estocK o i;oods inrro -uceatnere y smugglingi, 
The oiidaie anu so;ithern s aies, wiiich relVaineii from lius j.es- 
tiferous practice, derivea 'jeany all their sUj;j>lies of foreign 
mei'chandize from Ih /i town. This course of events tilled (he 
vaU'ts of tlie hanks m Hoston uiin incoin.iarably more Sjiecie 
lhan they ever held before — and r ised very heavy balances a- 
^ainst the lianas m New-Y )rk. 'I'he Phiiadelidiia b nks were 
indebted to New York; those in baium re lo i^hiladelphia; 
and so on, more lo trie si'Jth vard. 

It m ly not be unamusing to the reader to explain this pro- 
cess a liltlemorein deiai*. Se\s York jiurcii iscd goods large- 
ly in Boston, partly fo; bmk ni#les and parily on credit. For 
the latter portion promissory notes \>ere given, which were 
transmitted from Boston to ine New- York banks (or collection. 
Very large purchases were like vise in ide in tioston by citizens 
of Philadelphia, B'<ltimore, Ku liino.uK Peters >urg, Pay- 
ments v^ere made in bank notes, *f the middle and souih*-rn 
states, and in promissory notes. Both were sent on to New- 
Y'ork, the &rst for transmission lo the banks wnenc^ they were 
issued — and the second for collection. 

This state of things suggested the stupendous idea, at which 
the reader will stand aghast, of wielding the financial advanta- 
2;es then enjoyed by Bo3ton> to produce the eii'ect which the 
press and the pul.)it had failed to accomplish — th it to stop 
the wheels of ^ ovenvnent by draining; the banks in the middle and 
souLhern states of their specie, and thus producing an utter disa^ 
hiliiif to fdl the loans! 11 This scheme was projected in the 
winter of 1813 14 -and immediate arran^emenls were made 
to carry it into execution. It richly earned for the ()rojeciors 
the heavy curses of the widows and orphans and other persona 
on whom it entailed so much distress and ruin. 

Accordingly the New York, Philadelphia, and southern bank 
notes, held by the Boston banks, were transmitted with de- 
mands for their amount in specie — and drafts vvere^likewise 
drawn on the New Y'ork banks for the balanc^ on the face of 
the hooks to enormous amounts. 1 am credi bly ^nfnrraed that 
the sum thus drawn was seven or eight millions* of dollars 

* When I wrote thii passage I greatly uaderrated the amount thus withdraws 
from liie miJJie and scut hera states, which I a^timat^^d only four milH:,-:}^ of 
dollars. Subsequent enquiries have satisfied me tliat it was probably double that 



315 



THE OLIVE BRANCH 



from the time of commenciu^ these operations till the 31st oi 
August, 1814, a space of about eight months. To relieve 
themselves from this pressure, the New York hanks drew as 
lar2;e!y as the state of the accouuts would admit, on those in 
Philadelphia — the latter on those lu Baltimore — and those in 
the latter city on W^^.shington, Alexandria, Richmond, <^c. 

A fearful alarm spread throno;h the commuuiiy. The issue 
T^as looked for \^ith terror. Waggons v^ere loaded wit!) s|.Gcie 
at the doors of our hanks almost every Meek. There have 
been three at one time loadins: in Phihidelnhia. The banks 
throughout the middle and southern states were obliged to cur- 
tail their discounts. Bankruptcies took place to a cohsider-^'Me 
extent. Even wealthy ruen, who were wholly unprepared for 
such L cri«jis, suffered great inconvenience. Some who h 'd 
sn' scribed to the laans were unable to c(Mnp^y with tlieir ^n- 
gaji;ements : and others were withheld from subscribing, by the 
general pressure for money. In conserjuence, the loan, (hen 
])ending, partially failed, to the very great eml)arrassment of the 
goverriment, and distress of the public. This was the mfarious 
ohject in view. 

I have before me "a true alistract of the statements of the se- 
veral bank corporations of Massachusetts, rendered Jan. 181 J." 
ard published by the secretary of thfit commonwealth, from 
which I extract the amount of specie in their vaults, and of 
their notes in circulation. 



Massachusetts Bank, 

Union, 

Boston, 

State, 

New England, 

Mechanics, 



Specie, 

$ 2,114,164 
657,795 

. 1,182,572 
659,068 
284,456 
47,391 



$ 4,945,444 



Notes in circulation. 

682,708 
233,225 
369,903 
509.000 
161,170 
44,595 



2,000,601 



* Of coufse thgre co'dd not be the least pretext of want of 
specie, to answer the utmost demand that <*ould be reasonal ly 
calculated on. They possessed, for every hundred dollars of 

amount. The banlcs from Npw York to Norfolk inclusivplv, as well as most of 
those to tiie westwai f?, were li'eraMy di aic-'fl of their specie, and nearly reduced 
to bankruptcy. Tv r imislions of dc^'arr ^Vtfi \t< re have frecufrtly been exprrt- 
ed from Philadeldhia for the East iodies io single seasons^ 'ftithout produciBg anf 
sensible effect. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



iheir notes in circulation, nearly 250 dollars in specie — a state v 
of things probably unparalleled in the iiistory of banking, from 
the days of the Lombards to the present time. 

No man can pretend that with the above enormous amount of 
specie and the moderate amount of notes in circulation, these 
banks would have deemed it either advisable or necessary to 
make such very unusual and immoderate drafls, particularly 
•it the season of the j^ear when this project was commen- 
cedj unless there was some extraordinary object to be ac- 
complished. 

Notwithstanding the enormous sums of specie drawn into the 
rov;n of Boston from New York, Philadelphia, <fcc. so great 
was the drain away to Canada and Nova Scotia, to pay for ^ 
government bills and for smuggled good«, that but a very mod- 
erate sum remained at the beginning of the year 1315. I an- 
nex a statement of the amount in the vaults of the different 
banks at two periods subsequent to the preceding date, from 
which an idea may be formed of the pernicious extent to which 
these proceedings were carried. 

Jidy 1, 1814. Jan. 1, 1815. 

Massachusetts Baakj S 1,959,405 763,682 

Union, 639,789 202,786 

Boston, 1,270,731 691,729 

State, 1,114,421 88,339 

New England, 4S4,258 252,832 



$ 5,468,604 1,999,36a 



Thus it appears that In six months the amount of specie had 
been reduced the enormous sum of nearly three millions and a 
half of dollars, notwithstanding 4he continaal supplies from New 
York till the 31st Aug. 1814. 

Attempts have been made to justify the extravagant drafts 
above stated, as merely the res.ult of the balance of trade in fa- 
vor of Boston. It has been asserted, that it was no more than 
right and proper for the banks of that town to require the bal- 
ances due them ; and that the case daily occurs of banks draw- 
ing on each other in a similar mode when balances accrue. 

These palliatives will not stand the test of sober examina- 
tion. A large portion of the heaviest drafts, indeed those that 
first excited alarm, were nsade during the winter, when the 
freight was 20, 25, or 30 per cent, higher, in consequence of the 
vrretched ^tate nf the roads, than it would have been had th^A^ 

D d 



t^l3 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

vvaiied a few weeks. This is a conclusive circuius lance lakcii 
in conjunction with the fact, that there was a supcrabiindance 
of specie in the Boston banks, and likewise with the laborious, 
und unceasing, and profji£:ate efforts that had been so long made 
to destroy the pubiic credit. 

It is well known to every person in the slightest degree ac- 
quainted with banking, that when two banks in ditferent cities 
carry on a large intercourse with each other, bahmces will arise 
m favor of one and against the otht^r, often to a very large? 
amount ; which balances remain unclaimed sometimes for 
months together, unless the specie be actually wanted. The 
banks do not choose unnecessarily to incur the expense of trars- 
portation — and wait in expectation of tlie balance being redu- 
ced by tlie regular operations cf trade, I think I am safe In 
saying that at least two millions of dollars are constantly thbs 
circumstanced, between New York, Pliiladelphia, Baltimoie, 
Washington, and Richmond. New York owes largely at limeg 
to Philadelphia— Fbiiailei,. Ma at other limes to New York— 
and so of banks in other places. 

To render the stroke at public credit more unerring, and (o 
place the result wholly oat of the reach cf contingency, thc2'€ 
was an arrangcmejit 7na(le, by seme persons at prescnl imlcnovn, 
wiih agents of the government of Lcrver Canada, wherchy an hn- 
mense amcurd of British govtrnment bills,^ clrarvn in Quebec, 

Th?f.p. niils wpre open:y advei lised for sale in the Eo.-tcn pupei ?. I apces 
an advertisenient taken 

Fi'om the Boston Daily Advertiser, Dec 16, 1314. 

1 Bill for 800'. British gTjgrnn^ent hi'/s ""or sale } y 

I ditto 250 ) CfffRLESW\ GREEN, 

I ditto 203 ; JXo. 14, India Wharf. 



Let the reader nfter havlijg considered the above ostentations made of niaraging 
the intercf urse with the eiiemy,, compare the spirit which dictated it with the i?pi- 
rit of the levolutiorary wdf, as ditplay-ed in the following resoluticcs aiid ordi- 
nance* taken from a number of a similar charaeter. 

June 2, 1773. " Resolved, that no bill of exchange, draft, or order, of any of- 
ficer in the army or navy, their agents or contraclors, be received or nfgpc'r ted, 
or any money be ^^iprlied to them by ainy person in America.'^ Joutn Ur of Cm- 
gress^ vol. i. pa:7;e 193, 

IMarch 27, 1731. *^ It b hereby ordained, that the citizens and inhabitants cf 
these United States be, and they are strictly enjoined and required to abstaiii 
from ail intercourse, correspondence, or dealings whatsoever with the subjects of 
the king of Great Britain, v/'nle at open war with these United States, as they 
shall ansiver ike same at ikdr peril. And the executives of the several states are 
hereby called upon to take tlie niogt vigilant and efiectual measures for d^=t*^ctin^ 
such intercourse, correspondence, or dealings, and bringing the authors thereof, 
€}- tkoce CGncerncd tkerein^ to condigii punishneiiV^ Idem, vol. vii. page 60. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. S^IU 

jvcre IransndUed for sale to New Ycrk, Fhuadeh/liici, and BaM- 
more^ and disposed of to nionicd mm, on such advantageous tcniis 
as induced them to make large pitrditiscs. And thus \Yas absorb-- 
ed a very large porilon of the capital of these three cities. 

These bills were forwarded through ixmXy persons in Boston, 
and the proceeds being placed to their credit, added iinnieusely 
to the command the Boston banks had acquired, by the extent 
of the sinuggling trade, over those in the middle cuid southern 
states. 

Let us here mike a solenrn pause- Let us strip these facts 
oi the thia veil ihrowa over llicm. Let us consider them in all 
their nakedues?, in ail their defor.-riity. 

My heart sickens at Uie investigation. I tnni Vvith disgust, 
\\ith'horror, with atfriglit. Eostoa, tiie cradle of the revolu- 
tioQ, which claims so high a degree of pve-emiueiice for her mo- 
rality and religioii, after having failed in her endeavors to pre- 
vent the sacceHs of the loans, draws away (he specie from the 
middle and southern states, to hdnknqit the government, regard- 
less of the universal rula in which it woukl involve indiscrimi- 
nately^ friends of war— friends of peace— federali£t& — demo- 
crats— youn«: and old — men, women, and children ! And, to 
add a deeper d^e io the transactim, the specie is tran,smiUcd U f - 
na/la., and enahles the cHCim to de^fpaifh Jm r^d tc ^fvLi i-i 
Ikoi iin the difcncdess frontiers of ihcir omi cc2nitru This is 

June 21, (732'. "Whereas some of the inliabltJint? of ths United States, 
prompted either by a sordid attachment to gain, or a secret conspiracy with 
the enemies of their conutry, are wickedly engaged in carrying on an illicit traf- 
He with their enemies, wl»e? ebv a nvsrlui is prjvidcd J^r Eritish merchandizfts^ 
THE CiilCULATilVG SPECIE IS EXPOF.TSD FROM THE UNITED 
STATES, the payment of t?ixes rendered more difiicult ruid burdeusoiue to the 
people at large, aad great discouragement occasioned to honest and lavffal com- 
: "lie roe : 

^'Resolved, that it be and liereby is recGminende.l to ilic legislatures of the sev- 
eral states, to adopt the raost efficacioi?3 measures foi* suppr^^sslag all traffic and 
illicii intercourse bebveen their respeciicz cilizens and the enemy. 

R«:Solved, that the legislatures, or in their recess, the executives of the sev- 
rra] states, be earnestly requested to impress, by every means in their power, on 
their resDective citizens at large, the baneful con^equeriCes apprehended bv con- 
gress from a CONTINUANCE OF THIS ILLICIT AND IN FAMOUS TRAF- 
FIC, and the necessity of their co-operating: vi'ith the public measures by such 
\inited, patriotic, and vigilant exertions, as "will detect and bring to legal punish- 
7ne.ni those who shall in any manner fvive beeVi concerned thirtin, idem, page 

* Mr. Lo\Teil has attempted to deny tlie exitte^nce of this arrangement. But 
it stands on too strong ground to admit of beins disproved. That these bills to aa 
immoderate amount, were transmitted from Qnebec ; that they were drawn for 
the support of trie armies employed in liostilities against this country j that thcj 
^jere paid for in specie, devoted to the snpxiort of those armies; are facts too 
•T.tuhborn to be set aside. I li ere by publicly dire him or anj^ other person in the 
Hiiion to disprove any of them* Tney are abundantly tu^^neat to establish tiie 
!i!i':{ally of the cas^e, , 



3^0 THE OLIVE BRAxN^CH. 

the work of faction, the heaviest scourge that ever issued ft cm 
Pandora's box ! 

The consequences of these vile operations are still severely 
felt. Many estimable individuals have been absolutely ruined. 
Bank paper became an olject of brokerage, and was sold at 
^ various rates from three to ten per cent, discount. A general 
stagnation was produced. The loss fell most heavily on the 
poor, as is usual in all such cases. The rich were enabled to 
make most extravagant profils; and many of them v.ere liter- 
ally preying upon the middle and poorer classes of society. — 
The entire profits of business were swalknved up by the ex- 
travagant discounts paid on bank paper, a case hitherto un- 
known in this part of the country. And thus, in a season of 
distress and diflicuUy, the embarrassments of the citizens were 
doubled or trebled. And what is the most daring and profligate 
part of the business, the men who 

^' iiaiy€ played these pranks before high hcaven^^"* 

v;ere impudent enough t© charge the whole of the distress to the 
account of the administration ! 

" The offence is rank — it smells to heaven.'''* 

To render the afiair more shocking, more gross, more hideous, 
those who perpetraied this wickedness, hypocritically refused 
to rejoice in the victories of their country — as " unbecoming a 
moral and reiigicus peoj;!e ! ! 

There is no country in the world, but the United Siates, 
wherein such a crime could be perpetrated with impunity. Even 
by our mildest of all mild constitutions, it is treason. 

*' Treason against the United S'ates, shall consist only in le- 
" vying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, GIY- 
IN G THEM AID AND COMFORT.'^ 

if supplying an enemy with specie to enable him to carry on 
the war against their native country, be not giving him " aidand 
CGmfort!!'' and that of the most substxuitial kind, 1 know not what 
are ' ' aid and CGinforl . * ' 

Every man concerned in the business of furnishing these 
aids to the enemy, is ipso facto a traitor — his life has been fcr- 
feiied. That he has not expiated his crime by paying the for- 
feit, he owes to the ill- requited lenity of an insulte-d govern- 
ment. Every person who knew of the commission of the crime, 
and did not reveal it, was guilty of misprision of treason. 

Compare this offence with the rebellion in Massachusetts un- 
^ der Shays; v.ith the whiskey insurrection, in the neighborhood 
of Pittsburg ; or with that of the poor, deluded, ignorant Fries 1 
You may as well compare (ho And€3 to Mount Pleasant I 



This criiiie in England would subject tlie perpelraloi either 
.3 be hung and gibbetted, or to be hung, drawn, and quartered. 
In the former case, his carcase wouki be exposed to be devour* 
ed hy obscene birds of prey. In the ialler, his head would be 
elevated as an oroament on the tower of London, to deter other 
traitors from the perpetration of similar crimes. 

Let lis once more, though the siglU turn us aghast, examine 
this hideous scene — which sinks the perpetrators and conni- 
^ ers into the lowest abyss of infam}". 

Men, in the nwrcd and reJlgioiis^'' toMn of Boston, are 
[CJ^ ohliged to lend their money to their own gcvcrnmcni hy steaWu 
IZui in the face of day, within the knowledge of a whole com- 
munity, rCr'they send specie to fiie common enemy to support him 
n^ainst their own country ! Can him^an nature sink lower ?— 
T]ie7 are dJ^ ^'too t:ioral and too reH2:ious'^ to reijice at the vie- 
iories of their fellow-ciiisens — hut \XJ^ they are neither " too mo- 
ral nor too religious* ^ to aid the enemy to victory ! An age of pe- 
nitence in sackcloth and ashes wculd not eifdce this foul blot 
from the escutcheon of Boston. 

It is hardly possible to add a &hade to the enormity of this 
crime. But one circumstance greatly enhances its atrocity. — 
It was pernetrated Vvhile negociations for peace were pending.^ 
the success whereof it had so direct a tendency to defeat, by 
placing the British in a situation to rise in their demands; al° 
though the guilty persons professed to belong to the " peace 
party." 

CHAPTER LIV. 
Siihjecl contiaiied. Brief statement of facts. 

The immense magnitude of the subject of the conspiracy, 
stated in the preceding chapters, induces me to dwell a little 
longeron it. And as I maj^ have been led astray by the infat= 
uation and delusion which is felt by almost evefy man who 
forms an hypothesis, I shall therefore state anew the naked 
facts of the case, unaccompanied by my comments. Let the 
reader duly weigh the evidence, and acquit or condemn the ac- 
cused town, as he may judge proper. 

I. Engagements were entered into in Boston by individ- 
uals, pledging themselves not to subscribe to the governmeRt; 
loans, 

D d2 



322 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



11. When some of them afterwards did subscribe, they found 
it necessarj^ to cio it " secretly ^^"^ to avoid the odium and the per- 
secution excited against all who lent their money to the gov- 
ernment. ^ 

in. The utmost influence of that powerful instrument, the 
press, and likewise of the pulpit, was emj)loyed to discourage 
and denounce subscribers to the loans. They were proscribeqi 
as " ivfainous^^'^ in the pubiic papers most extensively pat- 
ronised; and declared, in those papers, and from the pulpit to 
be absolute " murderers,'''' 

lY. During the winter, when the roads were in wretched or- 
der, and when carriage was of course from 20 to 30 per cent, 
dearer than the common freight, [I^ the Boston hanks made im- 
moderate^ continued^ oppressivCy tinpreced^ntcdj and hostile drafts 
for specie on the New York banks. =£:^ 

V. At this period the former banks had in their vaults an 
unparalleled quantity of specie — one hujidred and fifty per cent, 
more than their notes in drctdation, 

VI. These drafts were continued through the spring and 
summer, and obliged the banks in the middle and southern 
states so far to curtail their accommodations, as to bring the 
oommercial world to the verge of bankruptcy. Large and ru- 
inous bankruptcies did take place : twenty and upwards occur- 
red in New York in one day. 

Yll. These drafts were carried to such a great extent, that 
on the 26th of August the banks in Ealtimore — on the 29th 
those in Philadelphia — and on the 31st those in New York, 
were reduced to the painful necessity of suspending the pay- 
ment of specie. 

VIII. Contemporaneously xvith these immoderate drafts, a 
very large amount of bills drawn by the government of Lower 
Canada, were, throug^h the medium of agents in Boston, distri- 
buted in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. 

iX. These bills prodigiously increased the balances against 
the southern banks, and the power of drawing possessed by 
those in Boston. 

X. The specie received for these hills frmn New York was for* 
warded to the a^enis cf the government of Canada. 

XL When subscriptions for loans were opened, large quanti- 
ties of public stock were sent from Boston to the markets in 
New York, and Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and sold at redo* 
ced rates, to t«mpt the moaied people to invent their money 
therein, and thus to impede the suocess of the peading loans. 



THE OLIVE ERANCH. 



-^23 



I sufjimt all ^hes8 strong facts to the reader. Let him exam- 
ine them and decide for himself. If he be an upright, candid, 
honorable man — if he have a spark of public spirit in his com- 
position — if he have not renounced all pretensions to the name 
of a Washingtonian — he will pronounce sentence of infamy 
against this transaction, ail its agents, its emissaries, its accom- 
plices, and against all who connived at it. If this be ^'feder- 
alism of the Bostoii stcunp,^^ I trust the high minded and honest 
federalists of the middle and southern states, will renounce the 
odious connexion, and disclaim all participation in such nefari- 
ous, such treasona'jie practices. 

Mr. Oakley, a member of the house of representatives of the 
United States, in a violent and declamaiory speech, alledged 
the strongest charges of gross mismanagemeat and incapacity 
against the administration, for disadvantageous contracts made 
for some of the loans, whereby millions of dollars were lost to 
the nation. All these losses and dis^dvautsges aie fdrlv charge- 
able to this conspiracy. 

A few ambitious demagogues in Boston have been tha guide 
of federalists throughout the union. They have led them a de- 
vious course from the paths prescribed by WashlDgton. Tiiey 
have allured them to the brink of insurrectio^i, rebellion, civil 
war, and horrible devastation, which are all synonimous with a 
dissolution of the union. Whether the latter will have magna- 
nimity and fortitude enough to regain the honorable paths from 
which they have been seduced, remains to be seen. Their 
contemporaneous fame — their character with posterity— their 
peace, their hapi)iness, their prosperity — the fate of their wives 
and children — the destiny of their country — the question whe- 
ther we shall be united as a band cf brothers, or involved ia 
eivil war, with its train of horrors — are all at stake. The stake 
is immense. Pray heaven they may form a just and epligbt^ 
ed decision, 

CHAPTER LY. 

^lasstidaiseiis compared with Temiessee. The blind leading the 
blind. Profits of trade fifty per cent, ! Road to Ruin. 

Never did faction more completely degrade and sink a peo- 
ple, than she has done in Massachusetts. That once high-min- 
ded state was attacked by the British with a small force. They 
we^e allowed, without an effort, to dismember it. They estab- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



lished a regular government in their conquests. As no efilirt 
was made by this state, \^iiose population amounts to al ove 
T00,000 free people, to prevent the conquest, so none wgs made 
to expel the eaerry, Enslavetl by faction, slie whined, and 
scolded, and imirmured, and winced, and threatened, and curse d 
the administration for not defending her, although she had made 
every possible exertion to enfeeble the government, and ren- 
der it incapable of defence. 

To sum up the whole. PJassachusetts was energetic, firm, 
bold, daring, and decisive in a contest with the general govern- 
ment. She would not abate an inch. Slie dared it to a con- 
flict. She seized it by the throat, determined to strangle it ! — 
She was untameable as a lion, or a tiger, or a panther. But 
f^he was long-suffering, and mild, and patient, and harmless, and 
iaoSciisive, and gentle, and meek, as a lamb^ or a turtlc-dovej 
when she cam^ in contact with the enemy ! 

There is some mj stery banes about this aSair, v hich time 
alone can developc. That the Brijish should attack iMassachu- 
setts, V, here they have su mmiy friends, and spare Pennsylva- 
iiia, where the great majurity are hostile to them, is so contrary 
to all the rules of true policy, as to be almost inexplicable. I 
dare not trust myself to Iiazard a conjecture en the sjjiyect.— 
The tame acquiescence of such a powerful state, in so degrading 
a ^rituation, must have some fextraordinarv motive. None oc- 
curs to my rniad that I would choose to commit to paper. 

But mark the contrast ! — what a contrast I Tennessee, with 
a large territory of 43,000 square miles~a vrhite population of 
only 217,727, and a black one of 44,535, to guard rigainst, is as- 
sailed by the most powerful Gombination of Indians, snd those 
of the bravest character tiiat ever existed since the first settle- 
ment of this countrv. She neither winced— nor whined—-nor 
cursed the government-^ — nor shrunk from daiiger=~nor threat- 
ened a separation. She arose in her strength. She girded on 
her armour. She called her sons from the counter and the 
plough — from tlie anvil and the loom — from the bench and the 
bar — from the senate- house and the council-chamber — and with 
a very small degree of assistance from Georgia, she vanquished 
the hardy warriors, whom a false reliance on British aid had al- 
lured to their ruin. Every successive effort on the part of the 
deluded assailants was equally pregnant with destruction. Gom° 
pletely vanquished, they bent their necks to the yoke. They 
cursed that seduction which tempted them from ease, and cora= 
fort, and happiness : and on the forehea^J of their nation imprint- 
ed the broad seal of perdition. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



325 



Since the above was written, Tennessee has earned tenfold 
fame by the heroism and public spirit her hardy sons have 
displayed at New Orleans, where they acquired not merely for 
themselves — and their own state — but for the entire nation, a 
wreath of imperishable glory. In this grand achievement Ken- 
tucky partook largely. Bmh these noble states poured forth 
their sons by thousands, some of them from a distance of near- 
ly eight hundred miles, to repel the invaders of tbeir native 
courrt?y. With what eiTect they performed this patriotic ser- 
vice, history will convey to posterity, countless ages hence. — » 
It will be a subject of laudable pride to belong to a nation, 
whose lawyers, and doctors — whose farmers and shopkeepers— 
whose clerks and mechanics, hastily collected together, signal- 
ly defeated an army of veterans, as formidable as any equal 
number ever arrayed in arms. 

The genius of Coltimbi i hides her f^ce with shame, and sor- 
row, and anguish, when she regards (he ancient state of Massa» 
chuset-s, degenerated from, auvl a dls2;race to, her h;irdy a.nce3- 
toT?. Bat she looks down with pride, and pleasure, and exult- 
atlon, on the yc-jthful, high-spirited, patriotic, and heroic Tea- 
nessee and Georg???. 

It is hardly possible to find a stronger contrast— more dis- 
graceful on the one side— more honourable on the other. 

The Hind leading the blind. 

There is no man whose zeal in inflaming the public mind, 
has equalled that of the writer of the Road to Ruin. He has 
published as many dirlerent sets of papers to excite the abhor- 
rence and detestation of the eastern states against the adminis- 
tration, as would fill two or three large volumes. He is, in pol- 
ities, as very an enrage as ever lived. So violent are his pas- 
sions on this topic, that they lead him eternally astray. lie 
eosnmits himself by the most extravagant positions, w hich noth- 
ing but the epidemical madness of the times would have suffer* 
ed to escape the keenest ridicule. 

In the Road to Ruin," he most patheticallv deplores the 
destruction of commerce, and the introduction of manui^icture?, 
both of v/hich he regards as equal subjects of lamentation.— 
And to make the stronger appeal to the passions of his renders 
— to enhance the misfortune of the loss of commerce — he very 
gravely states its profits at ''fifty per cent ! //" It is even so, 
reader. " F//by per cent n T ' It is hard to conceive a 
higher grade of extravagance and folly. The average pro'its 
of successful commerce are not twelve per cent. And if the 
whole of the conunercial capital emrdoyed in this coimfrVj dii- 



326 



THE OLIYE BRx\NCH. 



rin^ the last twenty j ears. be taken into view, including thai 
of the merchants who have become bankrupts, it is pro'iable 
that the profits do not exceed eight per cent. The fjiilurcs a- 
?nong that class are veiy numeroas, and out of all proportion 
^^reater than artions; anv other. Of the merchants in New York 
and Philadelphia who were in eminence ten years ago, I think 
1 am warranted in saying, that nearly two-thirds have been ut- 
ter! v rained. It is wel! known that the ¥»%^gt India trade has 
been almost always a iocio;^ one. In fact, of the few fortunate 
merchants who esca'ic ship-wreck, it may be fairly said, 

Jpparail rari nanics in gurgitc vasio.'^ 

This writer is eitiier a deceiver — or he has deceived himself. 
In either case he is ^' a blind leader of the hlind.''^ And it can 
never be sufticiently deplored, that a men in this situation 
should have had so very pernicious an influence on the desti- 
nies ofeigid miUions of people and their posterity. He has cho- 
Een a most felicitous title — The Road to Ruiif — and verily 
he lias so long been leading his deluded followers on the road 
to riling' that he has brougiit them to the very verge of the pre- 
€ipice. 

Lest the reader should suppose I have done him injustice, I 
submit liis own words, if I have toruired his meaning, on 
rny head be all tba cc:asure 1 have so freely bcelawed upoii 
bim^ — 

m take from trade a caviial r^>f.'ch produced FIFTY PER CENT, nnd ne 
invest it in inanvfaziures, FRECA^RIOUS IN THEIR NATURE, whkh may 
isever prcdiic-2 t-^enty, and which may prove cur ruin 

This short paragraph is as fallacious as any equal number of 
lines ever published. Every position it lays down is decep- 
tious. When the writer emphaticallv states, that manufactures 
nve '-^ precarious in iJieir nature^^ he must mean, by way of con- 
iradistinction, that commerce is blest with absolute security. — 
Both are arrant errors. Commerce is proverbially insecure. — 
No degree of prudence affords full security in that department. 
Manufactures, prudently managed, have as much certainty as a- 
ny other human undertakings w^hatever. 

One word more. What dependence can be placed upon the 
assertions, the insinuations, tlie allegations, on subjects abstruse 
or difficult to decide upon, of a man who makes such an egre- 
gious, such a momentous error in a case where detection treads 
so closelv on his heels ?t 

* See in the Examiner, vol i, page 141, the B-oad to Ruin. No. Vlil. 

f I here make a public apolo2.y fr^r having crronecu^ly escribed tbe?e ge/5iuOUP 
s\nd inflarr-matory piiblicat!on& to the late amiable judge IjO\\ell. Mydistsncc 
from the place of their publication, will, I tnist. apologize, as Trell a« scrount for 
Ihc error. 



TiJE OLIVE BRANCH. 



827 



CHAPTER LYL 

Vulpii poUlics. ProstiiidiGn of tJie sacred functions. Massacre 
on hoard the Ocean, An miliology of sedition. Bucccss cfthe 

" PolHics and the pulpit are terms that have little agrrcment. No sound 

onghi to be heard in ike church lui the voice of healing chariiy.'''* \\s iiat a divine 
i'Jea !] The cause of civil liberty and civil governmeDt gains as little as that 
of religion, by this coofusion of dutie?. Those Avho quit tlicir proper character 
to assume wliat does not belong to them, are for the greater part, both ignorant of 
the cliaracter they leave, and of the ciiaracter they assume. Wholly unacquainted 
with the world, in which ihey are :^o fond of medling. and inexperienced in all its 
afFalis, on which they pronounce with fo much confidence tliey know nothing of 
"politics bat the nassions thev excite, rr^ Surely the church is a place 7vhere one 
day^s truce ought io be alloned io the di^i>tiitio?is and ardmosiiits of mankind.'''* 

Burke. 

Of ali the aboniinatioiis that disgrace and dishonour this 
country in these portentous times, I know nothing more deserv- 
ing of reprobation than the prostitution of the pulpit for party 
or poiiiicHl purposes. No man cf correct mind can seriously 
reflect upon it without shuddering with horror. 

A clergyman, whose functions pre-eminently require him to 
preach peace and ^'ood mil among nun^^'' ascends the pulpit a- 
mong a congregation assembled to unite in praising and adoring 
their Omnipoterit Creator. He holds in Ms hands the iesiameni 
cf Jesus Chrisi, which hrcallies ncihing hut peace — he pronciuices^ 
and hasifor a text^ Ike words cf Jesus Ch rist, or of his apostles^ cf 
the most pacify tendency : and^ as a suitable accompaniment, for 
an hour long iie employs ali liis zeal, ail his talents, all his in- 
fiuence, for the anti-christian, the inhuman purpose of enkind- 
linsr amon^ his hearers the most hahful, the most furious passions 
— py^p(^i^^^ them for insurrection and revclulion — for all ths 
horrors of civil war I 

" The alternative then is, that if you do not wish to beeonie the slaves of those 
who own slaves, and who are themselves the ?1. ves of French slaves, you must 
eithpr, inthe language^of theday, CUT THE CONNEXION, or so far alter 
the national compact, as to insure yourselves a due share in the gOTernment.''* 

This ele2:ant and sublime morceau which breathes so much 
of the spirit of St. Paul, " let evei^ soid he subject to the high4r 
powers,'' is taken from a sermon preached in Boston, by the 
Rev. Mr. Gardiner, July 23, 18 ? 2. The christian injunction 
of " adting the comiexion''' that is, ^XT rebelling against their 
07vn government, \%onderfu]?y accords with the declaration of 
the text, which, gentle readerj is— 0^ J am fir peace,''— 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Psalm 120, v, 7. Never was there a more wonderful associa- 
tion — UJ^^ " Cut the CGnncxioji^^ — and iTT^ " / ayn for peace 
From such apostles of peace, good Lord deliver lis ! 

It is impossible much to aggravate the hideousness of this 
procedure. But when the preacher commits himself by false- 
hood, even undesignedly, as sometimes happens, it Cci;)s the 
odious climax. On tlie eve of a gcreral election a few years 
cince in Massachusetts, to answi?r the purposes of party, a fab- 
ulous story was circulated, that the French had massacred the 
crew^ of a vessel called the Ocean. It was one of the thousand 
falsehoods invented to answer momentary purpos«s ef the srnie 
kind. A clergyman, whose name I spare, seized the *tory 
with avidity — wove it into his sermon — and invoked the ven- 
geance of heaven on the murderers. But mark the end of it. 
The holy zeal €f the auditory had not time to cool, when, to 
cover the preaclicr with confusion, a resurrection of the mur- 
dered crev; look place. They returned home, safe and sound, 
from tlie stillettos and daggers of the blood-thirsty French — ■ 
and held out a strong memento to the preacher against a repeti- 
tion ef such an anii-chrjstian procedure. 

The practice of preaching political sermons is utterly im- 
proper, even when a congregation are all united — all of one 
sentiment, if such a case ever occurred. But when they are 
divided, as must necessarily almost always happen, what a 
view does it present ? That portion of the coDgrrgaticn dif- 
fering from the politics of the preacher, are reduced tc» the al- 
ternative of either absenting themselves fron)| divine worship, 
e>r sitting patiently silent under the undeserved reproaches, and 
abuse, and maledictions c/f a man who fiies in the face of all his 
duties, and to whom they cannot ofier a reply. 

To enable the reader to form a correct estimate of the abom- 
ination which I have here denounced, and of the justice of the 
denunciation itself, I present him with an anthology, selected 
from the sermons e«f three clergymen, the Rev. Messrs. Parish, 
Osgood, and Gardiner, to whom no small portion of the seeds 
of insurrection, rebellion, and civil war, so plentiially sown in 
the eastern states, is justly chargeable. Never, since the first 
establishment of the clerical functions, were they more misera- 
bly employed — more contrary to the dirine injunctions of the 
meek and mild Jesus, whose disciples these reverend gentlemen 
profess to be— whose doctrines they profess to teach — and 
whose example they profess to follow, and to hold out for imi- 
tation. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. S2l? 

Vraui the Rev. J. S, J. Gardiner^ A, M. 7't dor of Trinity Churchy 

Boston. 

The British, after all, save for us by their convoys, iofinitelv rjore propertv 
'ban thoy deprive us of. WFIERE THEV TAKE ONE SHIP, THEV 
PROTECT TWENTY. Where they commit oue outrage, they do many acts 
of tiadness.'' Discourse delivered April 9, 1812, page 15. 

" England is willing to sacrifice every thing to conciliate u?, except her honour 
and independence." Idem, page 10. 

It is a war unexampled in ike history of the norld ; wantonly proclaim- 
ed on the most frivolous and groundless pretences, against a nation from whose 
friendship we mii:;ht derive the most siijaal advantages, and from whose hostility 
we have reason to dread the most tremendous lo-ses." Discourse delivered July 
23, 1812, page 3. 

So far from tlif re being British partlzan? in this country, it is difticult to 5nd 
an individual candid enough to dQ that nation common justice." Idem, page 10. 

" rrj=> Every provocation has been nff'ercd to Great Britain on our pari, and our 
resentment has I'isen in prdportion as ahe has shava a conciliating spirit.''^ Idem, 
cage 12 

" What consequence is it to you if they be repealed or not, if you are sold (a 
Napoleon^ as you h tve reason to believe^ by the slaves nho have abused your confi- 
denct! y Idem, page 11, 

" Let no considerations whatever, my brethren, deter you at all times, and in 
all places, from execrating the present war. It is a war unjust, foolish, and ni- 
inous. It is unjust, because GREAT BRITAIN HAS OFFERED US EVE- 
RY CONCESSION SHORT OF V>"HAT SHE CONCEIVES WOULD BE 
HER RUL\." Idem, page U. 

" As Mr. Madison has declared war, let Mr. Madison carry it on." Idem 
page 17. 

*'THE UNION HAS BEEN LONG SI?;CE VIRTUALLY DISSOLV- 
ED : AND IT IS FULL TIME THAT THIS PART OF THE DISUNITED 
STATES SHOULD TAKE CARE OF ITSELF." Idem, page la - 

From the Rev. David Osgood, D, D. pastor of the Church at 

Mcdfcrd. 

The strong prepossessions of so great a proportion of my felloT^ citizens in 
favor of a race of demons, and against a nation cf rao^re religion, virtue, good 
fait generosity, and beneficence^ than any that norc is^ or ever has been upon the 
face of the earth, wring my soul with anguish, and fill my heart "T^ith apprehen- 
sion and terror of the judgments of heaven upon this sinful people,^' Discourse 
delivered April 8, 1810, page -30. 

If at the command of weak or wicked rulers, they undertake an unjust w&r, 
each man who volunteers his services in such a cause, or loans his money for its 
support, or by his conversation, his writings, or any otiier mode of inilaence. en- 
courages its prosecution, that man is an accoicpliee in the wickedness, leads his 
conscience with the blackest crimes, brings the guilt of blood UDon his soul, and 
IN THE SIGHT OF GOD AND MIS LATV^IS A. MURDERER." Dis- 
coursie delivered June 27, 1812. Page 9. 

" Since the period of their pretended repeal, SCORES, IF NOT HUN- 
DREDS of our vessels had been seized ia French ports, or burnt at sea by French 
cruisers, whil«jmany of their unolfending; crews were manacled like slaves, corfri" 
ed in French prisoTiSy or forced on hoard French ships tofght cgzinsi England.'*'* 
Idem, page IL 

Ee 



^30 , TEE OLIVE BRANCH. 

Our governiDent, with a hardihood and efFrontery at which deuiom nughi 
6^iisAerf, persisted in assertiug the repeal." Ibid. ^ 

My mind has been in a constant agony, not so much at the inevitable loss of 
our temporal prosperity and happiness, and the complicated miseries of war, as 
at its guilt, its outrage against heaven, a gains f ail truth, honesty^ justice, goodness 
—against all the principles of social happiness, y idem, page i Z. 

** Were not the authors of this war ia character nearly akin to the deists and 
atheis'ts of France ; were they not men of hardened hearts, seared cmsdcnceSy 
rtprobaie minds, and desperate rdckedness, it seems utterly inconceivable that they 
ibould have made the declaration " Idem, page 13. 

* One hope only remain.s. that this last stroke of perfidy may open the eyes of 
a besotted people ; tb.at th"y mav awake, like a giant from his slurabfrp, and 
WREAK THEIR VENGEANCE O.-; THEIR BETRAYERS, by driving 
Ihem from their stations, and pludog at the helm more skilful and faithful hands.'' 
Idem, page 17. 

If, at the present moment no sympfnyns civil war appear, th^y certainly n-itl 
soon — unless the courage of the ixar party shnild fail them ! 1 Idem, page 1 4.* 

" A civil tvar becomes as certain as the events that happen according to the knon-n 
laws and established course of nature I ! V Idem, page 1^.* 

Jfom ili€ Mcv, Elijah FarlsJi^ D. D. 

The I^iraelites became wearv of yielding the fruit of their labonr to pamper 
Qieir splendid tyrants. They left their nolitical w©es. THEY SEPARATED. 
WHERE IS OUR MOSES ! ! ! Where is the rod of his miracles ! ! ! Where 
is our Aaron !! ! Alas! no voice fiom tiie burning bush has directed them 
here." Discourse delivered at Byfieid, April 7, 1814, page 13. 

" There is a pjint — there is an hour — beyond which you mil not bear ! I /" 
Idem, page 12. 

*' Such is the temper of American republicans, so called. A nerc languyge mi,i!>t 
he invented before we attempt to express the baseness of their conduct, or descibc the 
rottenness 'f their hearts.''^ f Idem, page 2f, 

New England, if in^'^aded, would be obliged to defend herself. Do you not 
tliea owe it to your children, and owe it to your God, <o r.iake peace for your- 
selves.'*^ Idem, page 2 <, 

" You may as well expect the cataract <jf .Niagara to turn its current to tlie 
head of Superior, as a Clicked congress to make a pause in the work of destroying 
their country, while the people will furnish the means.'' Idem, page 8^ 

;' ^lasi WE HAVE NO MOSES TO STRETCH HIS ROD OVER 
THE SEA ! i ! No Lehaoon, nor Cards], ncr Zion invites us across the 

deep Idem, p ^g; 14. 

The reptiblies of Rosie, and Venice, and perhaps another, which alone ex- 
ists, have been as oppressive as the despotism of Turkey, of Persia, or Japan.'' 
: Idem, page S. 



* These sentences are already quoted ia a former part of this boot. They are 
fjievertheless repeated here, as peculiarly appropriate, 

f After the reader has perused this unciiaritable effusion of prejudice and vir- 
ulence, let him compare it with the following declaLration, made by xhi^ reft- rend 
gentleman, in a sermon preached at Cambridge, April 8, ISIO : — God i* my 
witness that I would not upon any coiisideratiou, willingly or iHsnecessarily 
-.wound tl^e feedings of, or give ofTeiice to, an individual in this assembly." 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



331 



Of the law of Pharaoh, ^vhich coRdemned to death the first 
born of the Israelites, this reverend gentleman says — ''A tliou- 
sand times as many sons of Jmcrica have probably faU-m victims 
io this itng:odJy war^ as perished in Israel by the edict cf Phuraoiu 
Stiil the war is only beginning. If ten thousand have fallen, 
ten thousand times ten thousand may fall.''- Idem, page 7. 

Those who take the trouble of multiplying:, will find that tea 
thousand times ten thousand maiie 100,000.000, who are to 
perish out of a population of 8,000,000 ! ! \ 

Sbculd t'>e Engllsb now be at liberty to send all their amies and -all their 
sliip? to America, and in one day hum every ciiyfrom Maine to GeorglG, y ntr con'- 
descmding rulers nmild play on thi^ir karps^ n'hilt ikey gazed at the irtmendo^^ 
confiigratioJi.''^ Idem, page 8. 

Tyrants are the sar/if. on tlie bmks of the Nile aud the Potovrmac — at Mem' 
phis and at Washingtoii — in a monarchy and a republic.'^ Idem, page 9. 

"Like the worshippers of Moloch, the f<iipporters of a vile administratioc 
sacriMce their children and families cn the altar of democracy. Like the wid- 
ows of Hindostan, they consume tiieiBselves. Like the frantic votaries of Jug- 
gernaut, they throw themselves under the car of their political idol. They are 
erushed by its bloody w4)eek *' Idem, page 1 } , 

The full vial> of de>poti?is are poured on your hezd?. And yet you may 
challenge the ploddifjg Israelite, the stupid African, the feeble Chinese, the drow- 
sy Turk, or the frozen exile of Siberia, to e^ual you in tame submission to the 
powers L\aJ he.^* idem page i 2- 

" Hfir€ fte must tramf^e m l/ss ns.^dates of d^spUism ! ! I or here ire most re- 
maia slaves for ever.'* Ideoi, page 13. 

^' You may envy the prisilegeof Israel, and monrD that ?»o land Canaan has' 
keen pTQimaedtc^ your (mcestors You cannot separate from th?.t mass of con ap- 
tlon, wl)ich vrouid pci>on the atmosphere of paredise. You must in obstinate 
d€>pr.ir bcw down your neck? lo the yoke, and ^Tith year African brethren driig' 
the chains of Virginia despotii^m, iinhss yoii diicocer sav.ie oih&r ruode ']f escrq)^.''' 
Idem, page 15. 

-{'* Has not New England much to appreliend as the sons of Jacob had P— 
Bui rio child has htcri taken from ike river io le.id us tkrough ike ^ea.'^'' Idem, 
page 20. 

If judgments are coniing on the nation — if the s-sa does not open thee a 
path, where, how, in what manner will you seek relief Ibid. 

' God will bring good from every evil. The furnaces of Egypt lighted Israel 
to the landof Cana'in ''^ Idem, 22. 

" Which sooty slave, in all the ancient dominion, has more obsequiously watch- 
ed the eye of his master, or fie'-r to the indulgence of his desires more servilely, 
tiian the same masters have waited and watched, and obeyed the o: ders of the 
great Napoleon ; " Discourse delivered at Byfield, April 8, 1313. page 2». 

" Li't every man who sanctions tlr's war by his safifage or InliueDce, remem- 
ber that he i? labouring to cover himself and his coniitrv with biood THE - 
FLOOD OP THE^LAIN WILL CRY FROM THE GROUND AGAINST - 
HTM" Idem, page 23. 

' How will the supporters of this and chrisiion i^^arfare, endure their sen- 
tence — endure their own renectioi:* — endure theji'^e ihal fjrencr burns — the worm 
^vhhh never dies— tht hosamias cf heaven— ^mi^ THE SMOKE OP THEIR 
TORMENT;6 ASCENDS FOREVER AND EVER." idem, page 2]. : 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



To raise array after army to be sacrificed, when the English do all which is 
possible, to soften the rigours of captivity, by kindness to the prisoners wliich 
they have taken by th'^usands and thousands, restorin;^ ikem io ihtir farn.iUts 

IVITHOiJT A RANSOM, AND WiTHGUT THEIR REQUEST J tO CaiTy On SUch a WaT, 

after its only avowed cause has been removed, is it not the lawless attack of 
Goths and Vandals, the daring pillage of wild Arabs, a iiceiitious outrage on 
aij tiie pririciples of c;;r'stianity, an impious abandonment of divine protection p'' 
idem, page 5. 

*' The legislators who yielded to this war, when assailed by the manifesto of 
their angry chief, csiahlishid iniquity end murder by ^an?." Idem, page 9. 

" In the iirst onset [of the war] moral principle was set at defiance. The laws 
of God, and hopes of man were utterly disdained Vice threw off her veil, and 
crimes were decked with highest honours. This war not only tolerates crimes, 
but calls for them, demands tliem. Cri'nes are the food of its life, the arms of 
'its strength. This war is a niojistcr, which every hour gormacdizes a thousand 
rrimef, and yet cries, give — give." fa its hirtii, it demanded the violation of all 
good faith, perjury of office, the =acrinc€ of neutral inspartiality. The first mo- 
ment in wiiich the dragon moved, pirc:cy and murdtr ner^, legalized. HavoCy 
death arid cciijkigraiion nerc the viands nj herjirbt repasf.'''' idem, page 11. 

Those western states which have been violent for this abominable war of 
raiirder — thove states which have thirsted for hiood, r];^ God lies given tlicni 
?;Iood to driiik. Their men have fallen. Their lamentaiions are deep and loud." 
idem, pa^e 16. 

Our givirnment, if they 7nay he called ihe goverjiment, and not the destroyers 
cfthe country, ber.r all these things as patiently as a colony of convicts sail into 
£otany Bay.*' Idem, page 5. 

I had begun to write some comments on these exfrrcls. But 
I liHvrr changed my purpose, i leave them to ihe judgment of 
the reader. 1 shaii simp!}" say, if the preachers believed all 
vhey asserted, what traiiscendant inf^ttirdtioB ! If they did 
not: what transcendant turpitude ! In either cf;se, what trans- 
eendaat projanaiion cj the cltriccd functions / — and of a rc li- 
gion breathiog peace and gjood vviii amonp; men ! May the 
Lord of his infinite mercy grant that no American coogrega- 
lion may ever hear such sermons again ! 



The enemies of the administration w ere lavish of their re- 
proaches, in the early stages of the vvar, on its ill succesSj w hich 
to many of them wrls a subiect of as much triumph, as if they 
belonged to a hostile nation—as if whatever dishonour and 
dis2;race mi2:ht arise from it, were to attach themselves wholly 
to the administration. The blindness and perversity of ma- 
ny of our citizens on this topic, were utterly^ astoaishing.^ — 
Whatever of glory av^.s acquired, or of disgrace sustained in the 
war, its friends and enemies partook equally in eyes of the 
world.* 

* This all-important idea is placed in the stronge?t and most strililnc^ point of 
light by tlie Editor of the Analytical Max:azine, in the life of Commodore Ferry 
—of which most elegant pcrfoririancOj may be snid with perfect truth, the hero 




THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



It is rrive\^i3e made a subject of reproach to the admlnlstra- 
Hon, aad of rejoicing to some deluded people whom party pas- 
sions have led astray, and blinded to the interest and honor of 
their country, that the government has abandoned its ground 
oa the subject of impressment ! A most melanchoiy subject 
of rejoicing ! Alas ! it was not the power of England, nor 
the downfall of Bona[>arle, that produced this abandonment of 
the claims of the poor, smTering, nautical hero ! No. Interna! 
discord, more fatal than tens of thousands of embattled ene- 
mies, has riveted the chains of impressment on countless num- 
bers of fut'7re Hulls, Perries, ^Porters, Lawrencesj and Macdo- 
Boughs. 

But had the war been really unsuccessful, it would not be 
surprising. It would have more completely covered the nation 
with the proudest laurels, had Boston observed an impartial 
neutrality. But she persecuted the government with as much 
virulence, and malignity, and violence, as if it were adminis- 
tered oy xiemons incarnate. She involved in the vortex of 
disarTection no small portion of the population of her own 
and sister states, and did England more effective service, than all 
her armies.* 

The war, to the mortification of the enemies of the country, 
has crowned the United States with naval glory. We have 
more impaired the naval standing of Great Britain, than all 
the enemies she has had for a century : and our Scotts, and our 
Browns, and our R:pleys, and our Gaineses, andour Macombs, 
and our Codecs, aad our Carrots, and our Jacksons, have ac- 
quired by land, hun rur and glory equal to what has been ac- 
quired on the water by oar Hulls, Decaturs, Bainbrldges, Per- 
ries, Porters, Joneses, and itlacdonoughs. 

Let those infatuated men who caught the government by the 
throat, aad almost strangled it, by the destruction of its credit^, 
aad by shackling all its eiTorts^ only reflect for a few minutes 

was worthy of such a Biographer, and the Biographer was worthy of such an il- 
lustrio'j? hero. Tiiere is not extant a production of which I should be more grat- 
ified to be the author. 

* or the style aad manner In which the government has been a^safled on the 
subject Oi the loans, the reader will find in the 52i and 56th chapters, a few spe- 
cimeni. Many of tlie paragraphs on this and other topics display a degree of 
milice. and virulence, and ribaldry, that cau only be equ^ilied by the writers oP 
the Courier and the.Tim^s. Adhesion to the en«my is risible in the elaborate 
defences of his conduct that so frequently appear in a large proporti«n of the 
papers published to the eastw^ird. And, itrange to tell, there was a naost labour- 
ed set of essayg published in Boston undrr the signature of Pacificui, defending 
the monstrous claim to 18^,000.000 of acres of our territory, as a Sine-qiia -non 
CO ndition of peace. These essays were republished in laQst cf the federal pa- 
pers thrau^aout the udIod, without comment or censure. 

Ee2 



334 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



calmly on the effect of their conduct. They desired peace.— 
But they really prolonged the ^var. If, nol withstanding the 
immense disadvantages under which it was carried on, through 
the disaffection of snch a large body of our citizens, we so harrass- 
ed and crippled the trade of the enemy, what would have been 
the result, had the united energies of the nation been em^jlov- 
ed to avenge the national wrongs — had all the ports of the east- 
ern states contributed their portion towards the common cause? 
Great Britain would in that case have been weary of the war 
in twelve months. She would have given us an early and Iion- 
ourfible peace. Millions of debts and taxes would have been 
saved — thousands of lives on both sides preserved — the des- 
truction of public and private credit prevented — and the two 
nations would have been early restored to the relations of com- 
merce and friendship. This is an awful view of the labours cf 
tlie fcace parly,'''' 

CHAPTER LVII. 

Parlies diange na7n€ and cliar oxter » Jacobins, Definition, Uu' 
holy st7'uggle for power ^ the cause §f all our difficulties. Can- 
did confession. 

Parties sometimes change their names, though they re- 
tain their piinciplf s. But they more frequently change their 
character, and conduct, and principles, still retaining their 
names. On many occasions in England, Vvhig administrations 
have enforced tory measures. And some of the most whiggish 
measures have been adopted by tory administrations. A 
very large number of the democrats in 1793, particularly in 
the western parts of Pennsylvania, were rank jacobins and dis- 
organizes. They offered violence to the government, and 
raised an insurrection, to free themselves from a paltry excise 
on whiskey, one of the most rational and salutary taxes ever 
devised. Most of those men who then violated the laws in 
this respect, are now strenuous supporters of the government. 

On the other hand, the federalists cf 1 793, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, 
were zealous friends of carder ojid good government,'^'' This 
•w^-s with them a s«rt cf \Yatch-v»ord. They were ardent sup- 
porters of the honour and constituted authorities, which they 
identified with their ow n. A very large portion of them still 
a4herc to the good old faith gr^d practice. But there are too 



THE OLIVE BRANCH 



335 



laiiiny who are as arrant jacobins and disorganlzers, and ?.s ripe 
for tumult and coniaiDtion, as the most violent of the deinocfiits 
in 1 793. They may murmur and may curse oie for this declaratioa 
as much as they please. I c are Rot. Thej' may exhaust Er- 
nuiphus's whole collection of maledictions on my devoted 
be id. But were these m iledictions ten limes tokl over, thev 
\?ould not efface from their escutcheon the foizl ?)iot of jaco'>in- 
ism. A jacobin is a man of violence in politics — an enemy 
to le^ial aoverninent — and ri-je for revolution. This definition 
is substantially correct. And therefore every man is a jacoh.in 
^vho was in favour of sending to Elba, the President of the Uni- 
ted States, chosen by the unbiassed votes of a free nation. Ev- 
ery man is a rank jacobin, w ho was ^ov pufting down the admi^i- 
istration by force. Every man is a rank jacobin, who with Mr. 
King of Massachuserts. regardless of decency, decorum, {propri- 
ety, or dignity of character, threatened the presiilent in an in- 
nendo with a halter,^ Everi/ man is a rank jacobin, w ho, with 
Mr. Coleman, editor of the New York Evening Post, preferred 
rvar with all its horrors, all its devastations, to a continuance of 
the present administration. Every maa is a rank, furious, en- 
venomed, and dangerous jacobin, who, w ith Pilr. Blake, a quon- 
dam democrat, seized the advantage of a distressing v» ar, to or« 
ganize one portion of this nation against the rest.f 

in tine, every man who wishes the minority to trample down 
and rule the majority — who himself opposes, or who excites 
opposition to, the law s — who seeks to dissolve the union under 
any pretext whatever — \%ho defends the enemies of his coun- 

* To the disgrace and dishoDfiar of the house of representatives of the United- 
States, this vile effusion of Billicgsgate was allowed to pass without a call to or-= 
der. ^ 

f Mr. Blake is likely to be a conspicuous charactT. Neither Marat, PsntoD, 
nor Robespierre began their career with more violence than he hfts a!re?idy dis- 
played. Nemo repenie turpissimus. He will improve as he goes on i stakes 
my existence, that had a civil war taken place (as would have been the case, 
bad Mr. Bl;ike's councils prevailed) and his party had not been crushed in the 
conflict, as they probaiDly would — if he had the ascendency, there would have 
been as summary process with the democrats of tha^ quarter as there was with 
the royalists under the guillotine govfrnmeni "if Paris Men are monsters all the 
world ovevy when unrestrained by lam-and constitution. I hope in the tender mer- 
cy of God, we *hall not try the experiment But if in the vengeance of heaven, 
we are destined to do it, we shall add our example to that of France in proof of 
thistheoiy. Mr. Blake transcends his friend Mr. Otis, far. The latter gentle- 
man is surely violent crtough — but he is obliged to curb and restrain the converted 
dem^crtit. Perhaps this ii a ruse de guerre — perhaps the outra2;e<)us violf-nce of 
Mr Blake is intended to form a contrast with the mildness of the prcjet of Mr. 
Otis, who is thereby to gain the popular title of a mcdere." Old Lord Bur- 
leigh, or Machiavel himself, could not arrange the matter better. But- reader, 
] merely guess at thege things. I am too far removed from, the chess boardj ta 
jadge of the sttite of the game. 



330 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



try, right or wrong, and slanders and degrades his own govern- 
t«ent, is an enrage— a disurganizer — a jacobin. 

Slni^gle for office. 

It is in vain to disguise the truth. Would to God, that T had 
a voice of thunder to [)rociaim it through the nation ! The 
convulsions and dangers of our country have arisen from the 
lust of office and power. The safe ty, the welfare, the liappi- 
ness of eight millions of people and their posterity l)ave been 
jeopardized and exposed to ruin, in the unholy struggle. — 
To embarrass, disgrace, and render odious and unpopular the 
men possessed of power, for the purpose of displacing them, 
and vaulting into the vacant seats, is a procedure, as ancient as 
government itself. And that it has been almost universally 
prevalent here, is incontrovertible. It is not wonderful that 
those whose grand and sole objects are power and the emolu- 
ments of office, should pursue this plan. The depravity of hu- 
man nature sufficiently accounts for it. But that a large por- 
tion of the community who neither have nor hope for place of 
honour or profit, should lend ttiemselves to such a scheme — 
should allow themselves to be made instruments to be wielded 
for the purpose — that they should, as the history of this young 
country has often verified, shut their eyes to the vital interests 
of the nation, in order to promote the aggrandizement of a few 
men, is really astonishing. 

The following paragraph from the New York Evening PosL 
is as candid a confession of a most sinister object as ever was 
made. While we v<eve exposed to all the horrors of war — our 
cities and towns liable to Copenha^enism — our wives and 
our daughters to violation — it was ingenuously avowed, that 
all these frightful evils were of no account compared with the ex- 
clusion of Mr, Coleman^ s friends from office ! ! I It is impossible 
to mistake the idea. It is capable of no other than this inter- 
pretation. However we reprobate its want of public spirit, it£ 
candour commands applause. 

*' What would be the value of a peace, if not attended w'lih a change 
of those rulers who are driving the country headlong t» ruin ? A 
PEACE, if such be lis effects, WOULD BE THE HEAVIEST OF 
CURSES. — There is no event that could happen — no possible ^ccndition of 
things thai could be imagined, ivhich ought not io be deplored, and avoided, as 
ike HEAVIEST OF CALAMITIES, if its imdency is io perpetuate 
power in the profligate hands thai for sixteen years have governed this ?m- 
happy countryP 

The man who can read thes« declarations without shudder- 
ing with horrorj must have his moral feelings destroyed^ or at 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



33? 



least blunted to an extreme degree. These seiitiments have 
apfieared in other pa[)ers besides the New Yoik Evening Pest. 

This paragraph affords a conifdcte ciue to all the convulsive 
struggles in congress — all the eiTorls to prevent the success of 
every measure calculated to meet the recent emergenc3^ The 
possession of power on the one hand, or the perdition of the 
country on the o(her, i^ere the aiternalive. The parties had 
no hesitation about forcing the choice on their ill-starred coun- 
try. 

CHAPTER LVIII. 

flliberalih/ of prejudices against for doners. Ungraicfid cn the 
pari of America. Irishmm and FreiicJwwi peculiar objects of 
dislike, Pennsylvania line. Extreme suffering. Tempting 
allurements, IJnskaken virtue and heroism. Arnold. Situs 
Deane. Refugees. 

The real ca^se cF the war must be traced to * ^ * * the influecce of n^orih- 
h^r.foreiiners over the press, and ilie deliberations cf the goveiurneDt hi all its 
branches " Reply of the [lou e of representatives of Massachusetts to the 
speech of governor Strong, June, 1814. 

Thou shult neilher vex a stranger^ nor oppress Idm ; for ye were 
sir^ljers in the hind of E^in^U' Exodus, 21 . 

I FiAVE lons^ desired a fair opportunity^ of handling this top* 
ic. I h^ve long felt indignant at the indiscriminate abuse hull- 
ed on foreigners in general — and more particularly on the I- 
rish, on whose devoted heads " trie vials of wrath.,'" are inces- 
santly " poured out'' 

There is no country that ow^es more to — there is no country 
has more need of—foreigners. There is no country in which 
they are more the objects of invective, of reproaches, cf envy 
and jealousy. 

A jealousy of foreigners prevails in England. But it is con- 
fined to the canaille, v ho, trundling their barrows— sweeping 
the streets — or pursuing their genteel offices of chimney-sweeps 
and night men — hate arid despise the bag and tail parleyvoo — 
the blundering Irishmin — tJie simple sawney ^otdiman—ihe leek- 
eating JVelchman, In fact, every man who wears a coat dilTer- 
ent from their own, or who displavs any indication that proves 
him not to be a "true-born Englishman," is an object of con- 
tempt to an English scayeng:€F. 



SSa THE OLIVE BRAi>i«lS. 

But it is not thus in high life in that country. A foreignet* 
of genteel manners — decent address — and good characler, is 
treated with the attention and politeness he deserves. 

With a degree of magnanimity, deserving of praise, and wor- 
thy of being made an example, England, w ho possesses abund- 
ance of artists of high standing aiid sterling merits, appointed 
the American West, as president of her royal academy. France, 
with a constellation of native talents never exceeded, entrusted 
her armies to a Berwick, to a Saxe. At a more recent period, 
a Swiss hanker presided over her financial concerns. Russia 
has frequently placed over her fleets Scotch naval heroes. In 
fact, go through Chris! endom. and you will find no country eo 
savage, so uncultivated, or so higldy polished and refined, which 
does not cheerfully Lvail itself of the proffered talents of the 
foreigner who makes his permanent domicil there. 

Bat in this ''- 'most eiiliohiened-^ of all the enlightened nations 
4)f the earth, part}' spirit has excited a peculiar degree of ma- 
levolence against the Irish and the French — and for the same 
reason, because England is hostile to both. The urbanity, the 
mildnesB, the equ.inimity, the retinement, and the politeness of 
the Frenchman, avail him nothing. He is an object of jeal- 
ousy p.nd ill'vvill, in spite of all his own good and endearing 
qualities, and in spite too of the services his nation. "m^A^ 
fi^^y hmr cf tria!,''^ rendere<i the United States. The poor, 
persecuted, proscribed, and oppressed Irishman, hunte<! out of 
his native country, and know ing the valine of liberty here, from 
the privation of it there, finds the antipathies of his lords and 
masters transferred to those whose fellow citizen he intends to 
become. To some of these narrow, infatuated, bigoted, and 
iilibera! men, a Hottentot, or a Caffrarian, or a Japanese, would 
be more acceptable than an Irishman. 

. One circumstance —were there no other on record — ought to 
endear to Americans the name, the country of an Irishman.— 
It has a high claim, not cancelled, on the pen of the historian, 
it has not vet had iuslice done it. Let me grace mv book witli 
the narrative. 

Durin^p the American revoUition, a band of Irishmen were 
embodied to avens:e in the country of their adoption the inju- 
ries of the country of their birth. They formed the major part 
of the celebrated Pennsylvania line. They fought and bled 
for the United States, Many of them sealed their att?.chment 
"Hith their lives. Their adopted country was shamefully un- 
grateful. Tlie wealthy, the independent, and the luxurious, 
for whom they fought, w ere rioting in all the comforts and su- 
[jerfiuities of life. Their defenders were literally half starved 



TH 



IVE BRANCH. 



539 



and half naked. Their shoeless feet marked with blood their 
tracks on the highway. Tliey long bore their grievances pa- 
tiently. They al length murmured. They remonstrated. — 
They implored a supply of the necessaries of iife. Bat in vain. 
A deaf ear was turned to their complaints. They feit indig- 
nant at the cold neglect-- -at the ingratitude — of that country 
for which so many of their companions in arms had expired on 
the crimsoned Held ©f battle. They held arms in their hands. 
They had reached the boundary line, beyond which forbear- 
ance «nd submission become meanness and pusillanimity. As 
ail appeals to the gratitude, the justice, the generosity of the 
ccAintry had proved unavailing, tliey determined to try another 
course. They appealed to its fears. They mutinied. They 
demanded with energy that redress for which they had before 
supplicated. It was a noble deed. 1 hope in all similar cases 
similar measures will be pursued. 

[Let me digress for a moment. I cannot resist the tempta- 
tion to bear my tesumony against conduct considerably anala- 
gous to what 1 have here reprobated. Philadelphia was lately 
struck with fear of an invading foe. Thousands of citizens, 
many of them hundreds of miles remote from us, volunteered 
their services in our defence. Thev left their homes, their 
fire sides, their rents, their wives, their children, their busi- 
ness, and all their domestic enjoyments, to protect us. We 
made them a bnse return. They pined and languished in the 
hardships of a camp, neglected — grossly, shamefully neglected 
by those (or whom they were prepared to risk their precious 
lives. Contributions v\ere requested by the committee of de- 
fence for the comfort of : he soldiers and for the support of their 
wives and children. It is painful to state, but it must be stated.^ 
that in a city where there are probably one hundred persons 
worth above $ 250,000 — thirty or forty worth 3 or 400,000 — 
and several supposed to be worth millions — the whole contribu- 
tion did not exceed $ 5,000 — a sum which half a dozen indi- 
viduals ought to have coni^rilnited thenvselves. The ingratitude 
and want of liberality of the citizens of Philadelphia, and the 
poverty of the government, which was unable to pay the miii« 
tia their hard-earned dues, DCr' forced many of them to depend 
on charity for the means of reaching their distant homes t ! t— 
Could the immortal Penn, thefounder of the City of Brotherly 
Love, look down from the regions of hiiss, whsre he is at res 
be must have sighed over tine disgraceful scenes 

" The quslity of merry is not strained : 
f t droppeth as the g^ue dew frotii Heavai 




34ir THE OLIVE BRi 

Upon tlie place beneath. It k t^ice bless'd. 
It blesses him that gives, and hun that takes." 

The Sim has not shone on more despicable conduct.] 

To return to the Penasylvania line. The ioteliigence ^vas 
carried to the Briusn camp. It there spread joy and gladness. 
Lord Howe hoped that a peiiod had arrived to llie ^' rtodlion,'' 
as it would have been termed. There was a glorious opportu- 
Dity of crushing the half-ioimed erobiyo of the republic. He 
counted larc-elj on iho indijination, and on ihe reseaimeui of ihc 
natives of ''the emerald isle/' He knew the iiascibiiity of thtir 
tempers. He calcnlaied on the dlmii-uiion of ihc strength oi 
'' the rebels,'' and ihe rcce^^sion to the numbers of the royal ar- 
my. Messengers were desp'd'ched to the mutineers. They liad 
carte blanche"^ Thtj were to allure the poor Hibernians to re- 
turn, like Drodigal children, from feeding on husks, to the plenti- 
ful fold of' their royal master. Liberality herself prebided over 
his offers. Abundant supplies of provi5ions— comfortable cloth^ 
ing to their hearts' desire— all arrears of pay— bounties— and par- 
don for past oiTences, were offered. There w..s, however, no he- 
sitation among these poor neglected warriors. ^ They refused to 
renounce poverty, nakedness, suJering, and ingratitude. The 
splendid temptations were held out in vain. There was no Ju- 
das, no Arnold ihere. They sdzed the tempters. They tram- 
pled on their shining ore. They sent them to the general's tent. 
The miserable wretches paid their forfeit lives for attempting to 
seduce a band of ragj^ed, forlorn, and deserted, but illu trious he- 
roes. We prate abotii Roman, about Grecian patriotism. One 
half of it is false. In the ether half, there is nothing tl.at excels 
this noble trait, which is worthy the pencil of a West or a Trum- 
bull. 

Let rae reverse the scene. Let me introduce some characters 
of a different ?tamp. Who is that nilscieant yonder— dark, de- 
sisinin^, hag;u:ard— treachery on his countenance— a dagger In his 
hand IsTt not Arnold ? It is. Was he an Irishman? No.— 
He was not of the despised cast, the foreigners. He was sn A=^^ 
mericao. iS^either Irish uor French blood Sowed in his veins. ^ 

Behold, there is another. Who is he, that, Judas like, is 
pocketing the wages oi corruption, for which he has sold his 
country Is he an Irishman ? No. He is a native American. 
His name is Silas Deane. 

Eat surely that numerous band of ruffians, and plunderers, 
and murderers, who are- mar mdiug and rohbiiig— who are shoot- 
iDg down poor faruierSj and their wives, and their children, are 
foreigners. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



It is impossible they can be Datives. No native American would 
perpetrate such barbarities ou hie unoffending feliow-citizeas. — 
It Is an error. They are refugees and toi ies— all native born. 

I am an Irishman. With the canaille in superfine cloths and 
silks, as well as with the canaille in rags and tatters, this is a 
subject of reproach. For every man, woman, or child, base 
enough to attach disgrace to any person on account of his country, 
I feel a most sovereign, and inetTable coaiempt. Let them move 
in what sphere they may, whether in coffee-houses, or ball-rooms, 
or palaces-— in hovels, or garret?, or cellars — they aipe grovelling, 
sordid, and contemptible. To express the whole in two words 
— pity there were not words more forcible— they are MERE 
CANAILLE- 

I glory, I feel a pride in the name of an Irishman. ' There is 
not under ihe canopy of heaven, another nation, which, ground 
to the earth as Ireland has been, for six hundred years, under so 
vile a proconsular government—almost every viceroy a Vcrres 
— a government whose fundamental m^sira is " divide and de- 
stroy" — whofte existence depends on fomenting the hostility of 
the Protestant against the Presbyieriau and Catholic, and that of 
the Catholic against the Protestant and Presbyterian — there is 
not, I say, another nation, which, under such circumstances, 
would have preserved the slightest ray of respectability of char- 
acter. 

A book now lies before me, which, in a few lines, with great 
naivete, developes the horrible system pursued of England ia 
the government of Ireland, by exciting the jealousy of one part 
of the nation against the other. A schemer of the name of 
Wood, had sufficient court influence to procure a patent for sup- 
plying Ireland with copper coin in the year 1724, by means 
whereof he would have amassed an immense fortune by fleecing 
the nation of its gold and silver in return for his base copper.— 
Dean Swift exposed the intended fraud with such zeal and abili- 
ty, that he aroused the public indignation at the attempt ; and 
thus the projector was fairly defeated, and his patent revoked. — 
Primate Boulter, who was at that period prime minister of Ire- 
land, in a letter to the duke of Newcastle, deplores the conse- 
t quences of this fraudulent attempt, ia uniting the parties, who, till 
then, had been embittered enemies. This grand dignitary of the 
church regarded a cessation of discord and hostility among the 
oppressed Irish as a most alarming event ! ! ! pregnant with dan- 
ger to the authority of England ! ! ! But, reader, 1 will let him 
5peak for himself: , 

F i 



342 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



The people of every religion, country, and party here, are alike set again^ 
Wood's haif pence ; and. their cgreemmt in this has had A VERy UN- 
HAPPY liSFLUEiNCE uN THE AFFAIRS OF THE NATION I \ I bif 
bringing on intimacies beineen Papists^ and Jaeobiies^ andthenhigs^ nho bejurt 
had no correspondf.nce niih ikcm,'''' ! ! ! See Boulter's Utters, vol.1, page 7 
Bublin Ed tion, 1770. 

Notwithstanding all the grinding, the debasing circiinastanceg 
that militate against Ireland and Irishmen, there is no country 
in Christendom, which has not witnessed the heroism, the gen- 
erosity, the liberality of Irishmen— none, where, notwithstand- 
ing the atrocious calumnies propagated against them by their 
oppressors, they have not forced their way through the thorny 
and briary paths of prejudice and jealousy, to honour, to esteem^ 
to res|}ect. 

It has been said, that they are in this country, turbulent, and 
miractory, and disorderly, and factious. This charge is as 
base as those by whom it is advanced. There is more turbu- 
lence, more friction, more disaffection in Boston, w hose popula- 
tion is only 33,000, and which has as few foreigners as perhaps 
any town in the world, than there is in the two states of Penn- 
sylvania and New York, with a population of 1,700,000, and 
vhich contain probably tv^o»thirds of ^ill the native Irishmen 
in this country. While native born cilizens — seme of whom 
pride themselves on Indian blood flowing in their veins — and 
others w ho boast of a hol}^ descent from those " sairiied pilgriins^^ 
whom British persecution drove to the howling wilderness, 
were of late sacrilegiously and wickedh^ attempting to destroy 
the glorious (would to Heaven I could say the immortal) fabric 
of our almost divine form of government ; of the Irishmen in 
this countrj', high jtnd low, ninety-nine of every hundred \Tere 
strenuously labouripg to ward off the stroke. 

I said there is no country that owes more to foreig»ers 
than the United States. I owe it to myself and to my reader^ 
not to let £ point of such importance rest on mere assertion. 
Of the men w ho acGuired distinction in the cabinet, or in the 
field, during the revolutionary war, a very large proportion 
ivere foreigners. In 'Mlie times that trif d mens' souls," their 
services were acceptable— they were gladly receiied, and 
courteously treated. But now, like the squeezed orange, th%j 
are to be thrown aside, and trodden under foot. 

The illustrious La Fayette, Gen. Lee, Gen. Gates, Gen» 
Stewart, the inestimable Gen. Montgomery, Gen. Pulaski, Gen. 
Kosciusko, Baron Steuben, Baron De Kalb, Gen. M'Phers(>n, 
Gen. St. Clair, Gen. Hamilton, Robert Morris, the amiable 
Charles Thompson, Judge Wilson, Baron De Glaubec, Thcmfts 
Paine, Thomas Fitzsimourf, William Findley, and hundreds 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 343 

other?, eminent during the revolution, were foreigners. Many 
of them vvere not excelled for services, and merits, by any nes" 
live Am^incaih, whether the dingy bluod of a Pocahontas crawl- 
ed through his veins, or whether he descended in a right line 
from any of the ?iigriin&'' that waged war against the potent 
Massfisoit. 

Since ihe preceding pages were written, I have met wi*ih a 
pamphlet of indaite merit, v,ritten by one of the authors of 
" Salmagundi," from which I quote the following statement 
with ple^isnre — as aifording an able vindication of the Irish, 
and a fair sketch of the oppressions and wrongs they have en- 
dured. In the name of the nation I thank the writer for this 
generous elTusion, of which the value is greatly enhanced, by 
the extreme rarity of such liberality towards Ireland or Irish- 
men on this side of the Atlantic. The work has, moreover, 
the merit of oeing an excellent defence of this couniiy againt, 
the abuse of British critics. I earnestly recomniead it to 
the perusal of every American who feels for the honour of his 
country. 

" The hiotory of Ireland's uDbappy connexion with England, fexliibits, h<jin 
first to laat^ a datail of the most persevering. gal'iDg, orrindhig, insulting, and 
systematic oppression, to be found any where except among the helots of 
Sparta, Thrre is not a national feeling that hat^ ivr, been insuitrd *ind trodden 
under foot , a national right that has not been withht^ld, until fear forced it from 
the grasp of Engl'ind ^ or a-dear, or aucieut prejudice, that has not been violat- 
ed in that ab^ised country. As Christians, the people of Ireland have been d<i- 
nied, under penalties and disqualifications, tlie exercise of the rites of the Catho- 
lic religion, venerable/or its antiquity ; admiriblz for its unity ; and consecrated 
by the belief nf some of the bes^ men that ever breafhzd. As men they have beea 
depriv'ed of the common I'igiits of Britis'i subjects, under the pretext that they 
were incapable of enjoying them : which pretext had no other foundation thaa 
their resist'iuce of oppression, onlv the more severe by being sanctioned by the 
law*. ENGLAND FIRST DENIED THEM THE MEANS OF IM- 
PROVEMENT; AND THEN INSULTED THEM WITH THE LM?U- 
TATiON OF BARBARISM 

While on the point of closing this page, I have been furnish- 
ed with a noble effusion on this subject, from very high author- 
ity. Its sterling merits, and its justice towards the nation I 
have dared to vindicate, will warrant its insertion, and amply 
compensate the perusal. 

dependency of Great Britain, Ii-ehnd has 

long langitisked under opprefsiom reprobated by humanity . and aiscmnlejianced 
by just rnlicy It would argue penury of iiunian feeling, and ignorance of human 
rights, ^0 submit patien'iy to those oppressions, l^^^j^ Centuri&s have rviiness- 
ed ihe struggles of Irelind — but with only partial KiccL-si. Rebellions and insur- 
rections have continued with but short intervals of tranquillity. Many of the 



♦See pamphlet entitled *' The United States and England,'' page 99, 



344 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Irish, like'ttie French, acre the hereditary foes of Great Britain, Jmerha 
hui opened her arms to the oppressed of all nations. IN'o people i ave availed 
themselves of the asylum with more alacrity, or iu greater numbers than the 
Irish. HiGH IS THE MEED OF FRAllaE, RiCH THE REWARD, 
Vv HIGH IRISHMEN HAVE MERITED FROM THE GRATll UDE OF 
AMERICA. AS HEROES AiND SiATE«5MEN, THEY HOiVOLR 
IHEIR ADOPTED COUNTRY." 

The above sublime and correct tribute of praise, is extract- 
ed from the Federal Republican^ of July 22, 1812, and forms 
part of an unanimour address agreed to by \he federal members 
of the Legislature of Maryland, published in consequence of 
the Baltimore riots. 

I have been highly and very unexpectedly gratified to find 
another advocate and defender of the Irish nation, since the 
publication of my former edition. Mr. Coleman, the editor of 
the New York Evening Post, bears this strong testimony in 
favour of that nation, in his paper of the 7th of March^ 
1815:— 

** No character is mere eslimahle and re^ptclahle than that of the real Irish 
f^entleman : and those ivho have come iu reside among ns, are dislihguished 
by ih^ ixrbaniiy of ihtir manners and the libtralHy of their inirids.^^ 

CHAPTER LIX. 
Address to the Feda^aUsts of the United States.^ 
Gentlemen, 

An attentive perusal of the preceding pages, can, I hope, 
hardly have failed to. place me beyond the susj'icion of (he des- 
picable vice, flatlerj-— and must give to my commendatfon at 
least the merit of sincerity. 

After these introdnetory remarks, I m?ike no scruple to de- 
clare my decided conviction, that in private life, I know of no 
party, in ancient or modern history, more entitled to res; ect^ 
to esteem, to regar/1, than the American federalists in general 
" — in all the social relations, of husbands, parents, brothers, 
children and friends. There are exceptions. But they are as 
few as apply to any body equally numerous. Political preju- 
dice, or the widest difference of opinions, has never so far oh- 

* Written, let it be observed, in Nov 131 J. T could not alter this ch iptcr so 
as to suit it to existing circumstances j I therefore let it remain as a record of the 
state of the nation at that period. 



THE C^IVE BRANCH, 



soured my visual ray, as to prevent me from discerning, or my 
reasoning faculty from acknowledging, this strong, this honour- 
abie truth — the more decisive iu its nature, from being pro- 
nojnced by a political opponent. 

Bat, fellow citizens, afler this frank declaration in your 
praise as to private life, and for private virtue, let me freely 
discuss your public conduct. Believe me, I mean not tooifend, 
I trust I shall not. 1 address you the words of truth. The 
crisis forbids the use of ceremonJ^ I hope you wiU give the 
subject a sei ions consideration— and receive with indulgence 
whi'.t emanates from candour and friendship. 

I >elieve there is not to be found, in the widest range of his- 
tory, another instance of a party so enlightened, so inteliigentj 
so respectable, and in j)rivate life so virtuous, yielding them- 
seizes up so blindly, so submissively, and with so complete an 
a :»an lonment of the plainest dictates of reason and common 
sense, into the hands of leaders so undeserving of their coufi- 
deace. In and after the days of Washington, you stood on a* 
proud eminence—on high and comman<iing groundo You were 
the friends of order and good government. You were trem-' 
bliagly alive to the honour of your country. You identified it " 
with your ovvu. But it is di^cult to find a more lamentable 
cliange in the conduct of any body of men than has taken place 
with your leaders. The mind can hardly conceive a greater 
contrast thaa between a genuine Washingtonian federalist oi^ 
17;^0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and the Bostomrui, who, covered with 
the pretended mantle of Washington federalism, destroys the 
credit of his own government— and collects the metallic medi- 
um of the nation to foster the armies preparing to attack and 
lay it waste. Never were holy terms so prostituted. Wash- 
ington from Heaven looks down with indignation at such a' 
vile perversion of the authority of his name» 

Let me request your attention a few facts— and to reflec- 
tions and queries, resulting from tnem— 

L Your proceedings and your views are eulogised in Moo- 
treaL Quebec, HalifaSj London, and Liverpool. The Courier,- 
and the Times, and all the other scovernment papers, are loud 
and uniform in your praise. UJ^^ This is an arvfid fact, ancJ 
ought to make you pause in your career. 

Uv CC/^ Your p%rty rises as your country sinks. It sinks 
m your country rises. This is another awful fact. It cannot 
fail tor^nd the heart of every pubii© spirited man amon^ yoUo' 
F »r the love of the God of Peace— by the shade of Washing- 
ton — by that country which contains ail you hold dear, I ad- 
jure you to weigh well this senience-^i:^ you mtk as yoii^i^^ 

F(2- 



340 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



cmntry rises. Yes, it is indubitably so. It is a iemfic and ap- 
palling truth. And {17* you rise as that desponding^ lacerated^ 
perishing^ betrayed country sinks. " I would rather be a dog and 
bay the raoon," than stand in this odious predicament. 

in. Had there been two or three surrenders like General 
Hull's — had Copenhagenism befallen New York, or Philadel- 
phia, or Baltimore, or Charleston — or had our Constitutions, 
and United States, and Presidents, and Constellations, been 
sunk or carried into Halifax ; and our Porters, and Decaturs, 
and Bainbridges, and Perrys, and Hulls, been killed or taken 
prisoners, your leaders would have been crowned with com- 
plete success. They would have been wafted on a spring-tide 
to that power which is the God of their idolatiy." CHr' Eve- 
ry event that sh^ds lustre on the arms of America is to them a de- 
feat. It removes to a distance the prize to which their eyes and 
efiforts are directed, But every circumstance that entails dis- 
grace or distress on the country, ivhether it he bankruptcy^ defeat^ 
treachery^ or cowardice^ is auspicious to their views. 

IV. 57=' Never has the sun. in his glorious course^ beheld so es^ 
iimablcy so respectable^ so enligJrtened a party as you are^ in tije 
frightful situation, in which the ambition of your leaders, and 
your own tame, thoughtless, inexplicable acf|uiescerce, have 
placed you. 

V. By fulminations from the pulpit — by denunciations from 
the press — [Cr by a profuse use of British government hills — by 
unusual, unnecessary, hostile and oppressive drafts for specie on 
the New York banks — and bv various other unholv, Ireasona- 
ble, and wicked means, the leaders of your partj' in Boston 
have reduced the government to temporary bankruptcy — have 
produced the same efject on our hanks — have depreciated the 
stocks and almost every species of pxouerty fiom 10 to 30 ptr 
cent. 

VI. These treasonnble operations have served the cause cf 
Bngland more effectually, then Lord V/ elHngton could have 
done with 50,000 of his bravest troops. They have produced 
incalculable, and to many remediless distress and ruin. 

VII. 117^ After having thus treascmahly destroyed the credit of 
&ie government^ one cf iheir strongest accusations aj^ainst if, is its 
hanlcruptcy.^ 

* It is iropossihle for language to convey tlie contempt ancl abhorretice that 
^Uf^ to the caDtin^, whining speecbe? delivered in ccngrf «s on the banL njptcT of 
the ffOTernment by men who were deeply guilty of producing it — whose treascu- 
able efforts hare been eroTrned with success — who have largely cortrihuted t# 
bla- t the most cheering prospects that Iteaven ever vouchsafed \ q accord to any 
of the human race. The tears thus ihcd, are exactly typiiSed bv thaie that 



TUB OLIVE BRANCH. 



347 



VIII. A man who ties another neck and heels, and gags bim^ 
mia;ht, with equal justice, blow out his brains for not singing 
Yankee-doodle, or dancing a saraband, as those who produce 
bankruptcy inculpate the bankrupt with his forlorn and despe- 
rate circumstances. 

IX. There is no other country in the world, where these 
proceedings wouhl not be punished severely — in many caj>itaji3^ 
Their guilt is enormous^ clear and indisputable. They strike 
at the safety, and even the existence, of society. 

X. By the sedition iaw,^ enucled by some of these very nien« 
and their followers, heavy fines, and tedious imprisonment, were 
awarded asjainst offences incomparably inferior. 

XI. While you submit to leaders, whose career is so !niqu!t= 
ous, were you in private life as pure as archao2:t Is, you partake 
largely of the guilt of those whom you uphold ; whose power 
of destruction depends on your support ; and Vv lio would sink 
into insignificance, but for your countenance. 

XII. If the pretext, or even the slrona* belief, on the part of 
the minority, that a war, or any other measure is unjust, can 
warrant such a jacobinical, seditious, and treasonable opposition 
as the present war has experienced, no government can exist. 
The minority in all countries, uniformly denounce all the meas- 
ures th©y have opposed, as unjust, wicked, unholy, or unconsti- 
tutional — or all united. 

XIIL The most unerring characteristic of a desperate fact2on> 
is UJ^ an ujiiform opposition' to all the fueasures proposed by He 
opponents, whether good or bad, and without offering substitides. 
The more dangerous the crisis, and the more necessary the 
measures, the more infallible the criterion. 

XIV. This characteristic exactly and rao§t iridisputably ap» 
plies to your leaders. The country is on the brink of perdi- 
tion.. Yet they have opposed and d efeatec- every measure de- 
vised for our salvation. They appear determined to deliver us 
tied hand and foot into the power of the enemy, unless they can 
seize the reins of government. 

XV. You profess to be disciples of Washington. The title 
is a sjlorious one. Let us test the practice of your leaders, bj 
tlie holy maxims of Washington. He raised his voice against— 
waroed you to shuo— and pronounced the strongest coodemna- 
ion upon 

so plentifully fall from the yoracious crocodile over the prey he is going to 
devour 

See chapter 3r 



34« 



THE OLIVE BRANCH- 



1. All obstructions, of what kind soever, to the execution of 
the laws : 

2. All combinatioos to dii'e«t, controK or awe the constituted 
authorities : 

3. All insidious e.^orts to excite hostility between the differ- 
eiit sections of tlie union : 

4. Aad in the most emphaiieal tnariDer, u:7^ all attempts to 
dissolve the union. 

XYI. But the leaders of your party, paiticuiarly m Bostcc^ 
liave 

1. Openly obstructed (he execution of the laws t 

2. Combined to coutrol the Cf)nbiitu*<^d audioiities: 

3. Acluaiiy excited as dire hostility against the southern states, 
in tlie breasts of those under their infiaeoce iu the eastern, 
as exists between France and England : and 

4. Been constantly endeavoring, by a series oi the most inflam- 
matory and violen' publications, to [O prepare the eastern 
people for a dissolidion of the union, 

XVII. In fine, all the steps ihey take, and 'heir whole conr=e 
#f proceedings, are in direct hdstility with the creed, the advice^ 
and the practice of Washin£;ton. 

XVm. While you follow such leaders, you may profess to 1:6 
disciples of Washington, but an impartial world will reject your 
claim. 

XIX. Suppose your leaders at Washington succeed in driving 
Mr. Madison and the other public (unctionaries from office, and 
seize the reins of government tliemselves, what a melancholy dis- 
graceful triumph would it not be, to raise your party on the ru- 
ins of your form of government ? 

XX. Such an usurpation could not fail to produce civil war, 

XXI. If your party set the example of such atrocious vio- 
lence, can you persuade yourselves that the '-'poisoned chalice'^ 
will not, at no very distp^it period, be " returned to your own 
lips?'' 

XXII. You profess to desire peace. I firmly believe you do. 
But are divisions, and distractions, and envenomed factions, and 
threatened insurrections, the seeds to sow for a harvest of 
peace ? 

XXIII. All the seditious and treasonable measures adopted in 
Soston and elsewhere, to harass, cripple, and embarrass your 
government, have, previous to the war, had an inevitable ten- 
dency to enable Great Britain to regulate, control, and restrict 
your comm^erce — and to set at defiance all the attempts to pro- 
cure redress — and, since the war, their tendency has been to pro- 
long its ravages. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



349 



JCXIV. Are you prepared — can you reconcile yourselves to 
incur all the risk — to suifer all ihe vuId that a revolution will in- 
fallibly produce, to enable Rulus King, Timothy Pickering, 
Christopher Gore, Cyrus Kin^, and Dnniel Webster, to sieze 
the reia* of governiiieGt, and exile " to Elba''' — or execute with 
Cyrus King's celebrated haltei%^^ your venerable irst magis* 
trate ? Suppose they succeed, what will be the advantage to you 
iudividudliy ? 

I plead no^ fellow-citizeoE, for democracy — I plead not for fed- 
eralism. Their differences liave sunk into utter insio;nificauce. 
Were the contest between theoi I should not have boiled a single 
sheet of paper, I plead agaiiist jacobinism' — -I plead against fac- 
tion — I plead ag?,iQSi attempts to " overawe and control the 

consliiUted authorities." I plead the cause of order of 

gove^iimeat — of civil and reH^jious liberty. I plead for the best 
cojstiiu ion the world ever saw — I plead for your own hor.or as 
a part} 5 wUich is in the liimost jeopar;ly. I pie for your bleed- 
ing country, which lies prostrate aiid defenceless, pierced with a 
thousand Wi>unds— I plead for your aged paren s, for your ten* 
der children, for your beloved wives, for y»>ur posieritv, whose 
fare depends upon your conduct at this moaientoub crisis. I 
plead for your est ^es which are goin^ to ruin. AH, all, loudly 
implore you to with^liaw yviir tupporl irom those who are 
leagued for their dr^struction, aud who make you instrunicnts to 
accomplish their uohuly purposes. Yv»u are on the verge of a 
gapio j; vortex, ready to s^vadow up yourselves and your devoted 
country. To advnnce a single step imy be inevitable perdiiioD. 
To the riiJfht about. It is the path to honor, to safety, to glory^ 
Aid in exiricatin;^ your country from dan2;er. Ai^d then if you 
select calm, and dispissionaie, and moderate candid,nies for puhiic 
oifice, there c^q be no d jubt oi your success. 1 am firmly per- 
sua lad that nothing; but ihe intemperate and unholy violence of 
your leaders has prevented you iVom having .hatshcire of infiu- 
ence in the councils of the natio i lo which your wealth, your 
numbers, ^our talents, and your virtues give you so fair a 
claim. 

The constitution xwaj be imperfect. Every thing human par« 
takps of human infirmity and human error, it has provided a 
proper mode of amendmv-ot. As soon as peace is restored, and 
thp terraentation oi the public passions has subsided, let the real 
or Hipposed defects be brought fairly forward, and submitted ta 
the Ici^isl.nures, or to a convention, as may be indeed pvopt^r. — > 
But while the vessel of slate is oa rocks and quicksands, let us. 



3£0 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Bot madlj spend the time which ought to be devoted to secure he? 
and out* salvation, ia the absurd and ill-timed atieoipl to amend— 
ill other words to destroy— the charter party under wliich she 
sails. 

May the Almighty Disposer of events inflame your hearts — ■ 
enlighteu your undeistauding — ^aod direct you to ihe proper 
course to sleer at this momentous crisis! And may he extend to 
our common ccuntry that gracious blessing which brought her 
safely thi ough one revolution, without entailing on us the frighiiul 
curses inseparable from aiiolber ! 

POSTSCRIPT. 

January 9, 1815. 
The apprehensions on the subject of the di^^oiuvion of the 
union, which are repeatedly exf^^ressed in this book, and which 
have led to its publicalloii, being treated by many as chimerical — 
and the result of the Hartlord convention, just published, 
appeariiig to ccuntenance the idea that the danger is over- 
rated, the writer in justificatioa of his fears simply states, 
even admitting ihat the leading men to the eastward do not con- 
template a dii-Folulion of the union, it does hot bj aoj means fol- 
fow that we are safe from .such an e\ent, while ihe | ublic pts- 
sions are so constantly recited and kept in such a high state of 
fermentation, ft is an easy pn.cess to raise commotions and pro- 
voke seditions. But to allay thnn is ahvciys arduous — often im- 
possible. Ten men may crea-e an insurrection — which one liun- 
dred, of eqj.i'^1 talents and influence may be utterly unable to sup- 
press. The weapon of popular discontent, easily wielded at the 
outset, beconus, after it has arrived at mauuity, too potent for 
the feeble grasp of the agents by whom it has been called Into ex- 
istence. It hurls ihem and those against whom it was fiist em- 
ployed, into the same pro'ound abyss of misery and destruction. 
Whoever requires iltusiraiion of this theor\ , has only to opea 
anj page of the history of France from the era of the national 
coQveution till the commencemeDt of the reign of Bon^ipartc.— 
If he be not convinced by the perusal, " he v^ould oot be coa- 
viocedj though one were to rise from the dead." 



APPENDIX. 



The favorable reception this work has experi» 
enced, induces me to make a few additions to it, 
which I respectfully submit to my fellow-citi- 
zens- 

They embrace topics mostly untouched, or at 
least jslightly handled in the original work. Some 
of them are of v ital importance to the dearest in- 
terests of the nation. 

In this portion of the publication, as well as in 
i[vhat precedes it, I have endeavored to divest my- 
self of any undue bias. I have pursued truth 
undeviatingly, and regardless of consequences. 
How far I have succeeded the reader must 
judge. 

I request a candid and fair examination of the 
various subjects — and that my errors^, whatever 
they be, raav be ascribed to anv other cause than 
an intention to mislead, of which I feel myself 
utterly incapable. 

March 31, 1815.- 



APPENDIX. 



553 



CHAPTER LX. 

Qrfi^rs in council. Restrictive system. Impolicy of ilie British 
ministry. Abstract from the examinations ^ fori the Uouse of 
commons. Ruinous effects of the policy of Great Britain on 
the vital interests of that nation. 

That the violation of the rights of the United States by the 
orders in council, required to be resisted by our government^ 
wili not be denied, by the most strenuous opposer of the admin- 
istration. And that every peaceably means of obt. ining re^ 
dress, ought to be fully tried before a recourse to war, will oc 
admitted. 

A[)peals to the honour and justice of the British governmt nt 
had been repeatedly made. Our ministers had presented vari- 
ous remonstrances on the subject. They had been in vain. — 
No redress had been vouchsafed. Our injuries had increased 
in violence. Other means were necessary. Perhaps no nation 
but our own, wiiose policy is eminently pacific, w^ould have he- 
sitated on the subject. War, horrible, destructive war, Vvould 
early been the resort. But with a most laudable regard 
for human happiness — with a view to prevent the carnage, 
the demoralization of war, our government iiad recourse to va- 
rious pacific raeasur€3 to enforce redress. 

Great Britain is a manufacturing and commercial nation. — = 
Upon her manufactures depends in a great degree her com-, 
iioerce. Both are indispensable, not merely towards her pros- 
perity, but her security, her very existence. We asked simple 
justice. It was believed, and on the strongest ground of rea- 
son and policy, that it <;ould be rendered her interest to cease 
her gross violations of our rights. The effort was most meritO" 
rious. It is w^orthv of future imitation. 

The American market w^as far the best in the world for 
dreat Britain. Our imports from that country had risen to 
the enormous sum of above $ 50,000,000 in a year.* it had 

* By a report of Alexander Hamilton, esq. secretary of the treasury, dated 
December 23, 1793, it appears that even at that verv parly period, in the infancy 
of our government, we imported from the British dominioas during the preceding 
year .$ 15.285,428 

Whereas our exports were only 9,363; 4 



Leaving in favor of Great Britain a balance of 



3^4 



THE OLIVE BHANCH 



been steadily improving. The punctuality of our importeat 
had excelled that of any of the other customers Lrji;iaiiii. — 
A considerable pari of the trade had for some time been Uans- 
acted for ready money. , 

As a large portion of the continent of Europe h d been as it 
were hermetically se led to the British trade, it was raiionaily 
presumed, that if the alternative were held out to Great Brit- 
ain, either to cease her violation of our rights, or to torfeit our 
trade, ^he would certainly select tht former. Fatuity of the 
blindest character alone could kave hesitated in the choice. 

I have strong doubts u hether any administrc.lion ol anv age. 
ever displayed a higher degree of outrageous folly and injury to 
the interests of its own country. Every motive /»!" i-rudence i.t\d 
policy dictated .o England, as an im})erious and paramount du- 
ty, to treat the United States wiih kindness, liberality and at- 
tention. Every fdir means ought to have been emplo} ed to 
, conciliate our citizens, and to induce them to bury the animos- 
ities of the revolution in utter oblivion. Such a liberal coiuse 
of proceeding would have been productive of immense advan- 
tages to her dearest interests. 

The trade of (his country was the main buitress that propped 
up the tottering fabric of British paper credi., ana tufnifth- 
«d means to replenish the veins of the body commercial and 
financial, wliich had been so ruinously phlel otomized by the 
lancet of subsidies to foreign po'veis, and suuetBd so miich by 
the starvation of the continental system. 

It requires but a cursory examination of the whole tenor of 
the conduct of England towards this country, to be satished 
ihat it has been steadily and uniformly the reverse of what a 
"wise statesman would have adopted. The predatory and law- 
less orders in couEcil, %o clandestinely issued against American 
commerce, ''prei/inf:; upon ike Krvpratected property of a friendly 
fower^''^ — the wanton, cruel, barbarous, and unprecedented sei- 
zures of our citizens on the high secis— the countenanced, the 
flag 'ions forgery of our ships' papers, advertised in their Ga- 
zettes, and defended in parliament— the blockade of our ports- 
:^nd capture of vessels bound in and out^ — the shameful viola- 

Our exports to the French dominions for the same year 

were $ 4,698,735 

And the imports. only 2,088,348 

Leaving a balance in favor of the United States of 2,610,387 

* See Boston mrmorial. signed by James Lloyd, jun. David Green, Arnold 
Welles, David Sears, John Coffin Jones, George Cabot, and Thomas H Perkins^. 
4for and in behalf of the whole body of the mercantile citizens of that tovfja. 



APPENDIX. 



355 



fioas of our rights of sovereignty withia the ilmifs declared sa- 
cred oy the law of n 'tions — the murder ot* Pearce in one 
our harbors — and the total neglect oi' aii our applicaiions for 
redress of these grievances,* were as iilierly imj-olitic as they 
were unjust and flagitious. It is impossible to conceive of a 
course of conduct more comt'letely miirked by an ulter destitu- 
tion of reason, common sense, justice, regard to the law of na- 
tions, or a sound and enlarged view of the true and vital inte- 
rests of the British nation. It recjuires no sagacity to foresee 
the sentence history will pronounce on this miserable, this har- 
rastinii; system. Unqualified reprobation auaits it, a» well as 
its authors and abettors. It was calculated to sour and alienate 
the friends of England, and to increase ihe hostility of her ene- 
mies — to treble the influence of the latter, and proportionably 
to diminish that of the former. 

The conduct of France had been in many points so utterly 
indefensible, so great a violation of our rights, and of the plain- 
est dictates of justice, that had Great Britain conducted to- 
wards us with even a moderate slmre of decency or propriety, 
she might have readily arrayed this nation in hostility against 
ber grand enemy seven years ago. The sole reason that pre- 
vented an earlier declaration of v/e^T against one or the other 
of the belligerents was, that it would bave been madness to at- 
tack the two, and each had so atrociously outraged and injured 
us, that, in the strong, clear, and just language of Governor 
Griswold, " such had been the character of both, that 7io cir^ 
cumstance could justify ^ preference to either This import- 
ant and irresistible declaration was, as I have already stated, 
made to the legislature of Connecticut, on the 12th of Mav, 
1812. 

The annals of commerce do not, I believe, furnish an in- 
Mance of one nation enjoying so lucrative a trade with another 
as England maintained with this country, as well for extent as 
for immensity of advantage. We furnished her with the most 
valuable raw materials for her manufactures, and received in 
return for these materials the manufactured articles, wrought 
up often at >0, 20, 30, or 40 fold advance of value. It is hard- 
ly possible to conceive a more gainful commerce. A Sully, or 
a Colbert, or a Ximenes, or a Chatham, would have cherished 
such a trade as 'the apple of his eye"" — and shunned with hor- 
ror every thing in the least calculated to impair or destroy 

it 

^ Redress of grievances was not only never affoj ded^but in almost every in- 
stance, the officers who perpetrated the greatest outrages, were absolutely prok 
•moied^ as if to reward themj asd to encourage cxhers. 



S50 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



For every valuable purpose, ^ve were literally colonies of 
Gi'eat Britain. That is to say, she derived from us all the ad- 
vantages that nations have ever derived from colonies, without 
the expense of flieets or armies for our protection. And so 
s^roiig has been and is the partiality of large proportions of our 
eitizens for English habits, and English manners, and English 
fashions ; and such is the devotion of a large number of oul* 
presses, and our literary men, and our pulpits, to the defence 
and justification of England, that it re;|uired but little care to 
have maintained her influence here wholly unimpaired. If, 
juotwUhstanding such an irritating, and insulting, and predatory 
system as she pursued, she still retained so many warm, zeal- 
ous, and inOuentiai partisans here, what might she iiot have 
done, had she pursued a system of kindness and conciliation 1 

Her ministers abandoned the noble, la wlul, immense and rich 
trade with this country, for a miserable trade of smuggling, not 
one-tenth in amount or value, and resting upon the pestiferous 
and hateful basis of forgery and perjury ! Alas ! that the aifairs 
of mighty nations should fall into such hands ? 

I cannot resist the temptation of enriching this page — of 
embalming it with the glowing and sublime eloquence of Henry 
Brougham, esq. M. P. on this inexhaustible topic. 

Good God ! the incurable perverseness of human folly ! always striving after 
things that are beyond their reach, of doubtful worth, and discreditable pursuit, 
and neglecting objects of immense value, because, in addition to their own im- 
portance, they have one recommendation which would make meaner things desi- 
rable — that they can be easily obtained and honestly as well as justly enjoyed ! 
It is this miserable, shifting, doubtful, hateful traffic, that we prefer, to the sure^ 
regular, increasing, honest gains of Am&rican commercey to a trade which is pla- 
ced beyond the enemy's reach, which beiddes encircling ourselves in peace and 
honor, only benefits those who are our natural friends, over whom he has no con- 
trol," ***** which supports at once all that remains of liberty beyond tlie 
seas, and gives life and vigor to its main pillar within the realm, the manufac- 
tures and commerce of England "* 

" I have been drawn aside from the course of my statement respecting the im- 
portance of the commerce which we are sacrificing to those mere whimeies. I can 
call them nothing else, respecting oar abstract rights. That commerce is the 
whole American market, a branch of trade in comparison of which^ ivhather you 
regard its escient, its certainty ^ or its progressive increase, every other sinks into in- 
significance. It is a market which in ordinary times may take off about thirteen 
millions f worth of our manufactures ; and in steadiness and regularity it is unri- 
valled ''X 

" The returns indeed are as sure, and the bad debts as few, as they used to be 
even in the trade to Holland. Fhese returns are also grown much more speedy. 
Of this you have ample proof before you, from the wituf^ses who have been ex- 
amined, who have all said that the payment was now as quick as in any other line 
— and that the Americans often preferred making ready money bargains for sake 
©f the discount,"^ 

* Speech in parliamejit, June 16, 1312. Philadelphia edition, page 39. 

t Nearly sixty millions of dollars, t idem, page 31. 5 Idem, page 35. 



APPENDIX. 



36? 



To rctiirn to iiie course pursued here. The intercourse of 
France aii'l England with this couiiiry vas prohibited by an 
act p issed on the 1st of March, 1809, commonly called the noa- 
intercoarse I tw, for the vital clauses of \vhich I refer the read- 
er to pa^e 108. A repeal, or modification of the Berlin and 
Milan decrees, and the orders in council, so as to cease violat- 
invr the rights of tiie United States, was to authorise the presi» 
dent ro restore the intercourse. 

This ra'!d and excellent mode of procuring redress, which 
entitms aiithors to ihe most unqualitied approbation of their 
fei low citizens and of posterity — and to which history will do 
the justice denied by ungrateful cotemporaries, was treated 
with ridicule and contempt in this country, a futile, and imbe- 
cile, and utterly ineffectual in its operation upon England and 
France, 

With a blindness, and folly, and madness, of which there are 
not many parallels, the British ministry persevered in their un- 
just system towards this country, notwithstanding its destruct- 
ive effects on the vital interests of their own. Their most val- 
uable and imiortaat manufactures were paralized— their manu- 
facturers reduced to bei^gary and ruin — a regelar trade cut off, 
amounting; to 50,000,000"^ of dollars annually— and the sources 
dried up, from whence they principally derived the means of 
subsidizing foreign powers to fight their battles. ^ 

In vain did the wisest and best of the people of England 
enter their most solemn protest against the orders in council — » 
that miserable system, on which egregious f dly and rampant 
injustice were stamped in the most legi *le characters. In vain 
did the starving, workmen — the imjoverished mimufacturers im- 
plore the administration for relief. They ?\ere deaf as the ad- 
der, whose ears are closed to tUe voice of ihe charmer, charm 
be never so wiselv. 

At length, in the spring of 1812, the public sufferings had so 
far increased- — and the clamour for redress was so universalj 
that the British ministry \vere im.ietuously driven to submit to 
institute an inquiry in parliament into the operation and effects 
of the orders in council. This measure was adopted with an 
ill grace, and not until the most serious and alarming riots and 
insurrections had occurred in several parts of England. 

The examination was began on the 29ih of April, 1812, and 
continued till the 13th of the following June. Witnesses were 
examined from most parts of England. The evidence uniform- 
ly and undeviatin2:ly concurred to pro^ e how transcendenlljr 
important was the American trade to the m miifncturers of Great 
Britaiu^liQw awfully calamitous the cessation of that trade h^^ 



353 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



been— and the miserable policy of an adherence to the orders 
in council. All this was apparent and undaiiahle from ike very 
first day of the examhmtie>n^ eoidd there have been prci iGus 
donht on the subject. 

The minutes of the examination, as puhllshed by order of 
parliament, foriii a ponderous folio volume of nearly 700 pages, 
^nd exhibit a frigliUid picture of the results of the' sinister aod 
absurd policy which dictated the orders in couaoil. 

To the United States this is a subject of imnirnse impor- 
tance. Our form of gorerument — our dearest interests — the 
habits, and i nc I i nations, and manners of our |>€o;)le, lead us to 
pursue a pacific policy. And if there be an effectual instrument 
hereby, without war, we can extort justice from nations \\ hich 
T^olate our rights, or otfer us outrag^e, it affords additional and in- 
Valuable security for the perrfianence of ihe blessed state of 
peace. While we can mak« it pre-eminently the interest of 
those nations with which we have intercourse, to reciprocate 
kindness and justice, we may reasonably calculate upon their 
pursuing th'?t desirrible course. 

To evince, therefore, the eflicacy of the so much al used re- 
strictive system, I submit to the reader a fevr extracts from ihe 
evidence ^iven before the house of commons, of its efi'ects oa 
ihe deai'cst interests of Great Britain. 

April 30. 1812. 

Mr. THOM AS POT'^^ merchnnf, of Birmingham —.Vrorn 20 000 to 25,000 
Baea in BirroinghRm. w^^r j^;^ kuve norroyily hal/ nork Geiierol ^ta*e -f the torrn 
extremeli/ depressed, and ti t distress universal Mmufacturtrs k vt been ketpin^ 
tkar mn\ employ td in creating stock nearly to the extent of tktir ca^iiil. and many 
of them are in cofi^equenee in extreme difficulties If no favourahle change takes 
place, the manufactorers will be oh]iff»*3 within two months to d}«D)Iss Iwo-lhii d-? 
of their hands, and some of them the whole. Large quantities of Eirin-r^hr m 
.^oods have been laying in Liverpool, waiiicg for shipDient from 12 to ^b nioctbs 
past. r|-^ 'T^h^ Jyner'ican m^.rket, a steady and increanng one^ and Vie pcymenU^ 
which have been regularly irnprovirig. 7io7v very good. Since the prohibition in A- 
lE^ric3 g-oodi have been sent to C^nado : but they have been sold there foT less 
than th-^ir co-r in tiiC maDufacturins towns. Has trif^d the South American mar- 
ket with very indiflferent success ; 2lA has co>jc.u<;ed never to mate acothfr 
shipment to that country ag he bel eves thosp shipment? have not yielded 2>5-per 
cent Mausfcrctures in America bav^ made an al^Tmicg progress witiiin two 
years : ba( thiriV? that if the intercou'S*^ wars' speedily thrown open- they would 
b° «^-fffctijrd'v checked Would sh'p hi - goods to America the moment the orders 
*tn council were re- ci?r^e<?, having t o live and ^p' ci-^c instructions from his cor- 
respondents to that effect. Knows houses in Birmingham, which have gcods rea- 
*iy to ship to America, that cost them 70.000/ 50,000/. 45.O0G/ 25.000Z- ^O.OOC/. 
and worVmen have emigraf^d from Bir^ringhaoi to America Hu'- no doubt iAct 
^ the American trade nas 'opened, ihe distress in Birmingham nould insiajitty 
■cense. 

, Mr WILLLAM BLAKE\V\AF, Lamp Manufacturer, of Btrwiwi^^m.—Goods 
ijrincipally sent to America. Trade so mu^^h diminished that ! e would have 
Stopped his business aiiogetber, haa it not been for regard for his worXmen, bj 



APPENDIX. 



"wh©ra he had been gaining iiioney for twenty year?. Stock so mach acciiml^ted 
th it nearly the. whole of his capital is absorbed by it. Unltss the American 
n/iTrkd is opened, cannot keep on kis hands at all Has hitheilo borne the suffer- 
ings of h'u w.^rkinen himself, but will be compelled ro discharge them, however 
reluctant to do so. Has SQughi, but not found relief in any other market. Rec- 
ollects the scarcity in 1800 and ISGl : but the distress was not at ail equal to the 
present, because there was plenty of work. 

Mr. JAMES RVLA.ND, of Birmingham mannfacturer of plated coach bar- 
Tie«s and saddle furniture. — Principal part of his manufacture exported to thz 
United States. Previous to 1803 the export Tras very con.-iderab^^ and increasing, 
the re turns prompt, and payment sure Workmen wiio formerly earned 30 to 
40s per week, new zet about 20?. and these who used to ger. 20- n.7w earn about 
11 or I2s. Shelves haded with stock, and the griater part cf hi ^ capital ab^orbeti 
tn %t. Two-thirds of th© workmen employed in tbis business must he di^ch3rg- 
ed, if no favorable change takes place, Since the falling f^ff* ofihe American 

market, has opened a house in London, hut found so many persoyis flocking to 
(he same market that he has been able to carri^ii on with verp little success. Pre- 
rious to the orders in council the trade n^as in a vzryjiourishing state : they wpre 
full of orders 3ntl their men full of worl . Has rec-:?iv d no relief from the 
South American market ; and rr^ knows no market eijual to that of the United 
States, for the sale of this maawidcture. 

May 4, 1812. 

Mr. JEREMf ^.H RIDOUT, merchant, of Biimm-hani.—Has goods to the 
value of 20,000Z. prepared for the AoTerita i market, which he would instantly 
ship if the orders in council were renaov^-d, being ?o ad/iied by his par-ner in 
Ammca. The workmen very much distresj^ed : I have seen people shed tears ; 
I have confined myself behind the door for fear of seeing those people, lest they 
should importune me to give tliem orders ; they *^ave told me they did not kiro*7 
what to do. One man eaid. What can I do ? if I go to the magistrate he will 
tell me to go for a so-dier ; I am a married man and God knows what 1 mu«t 
unless I steal, and then I shall go to Botany Bay." I d© not like to hearsu-h 
^O' ds ; f cannot bear it 

Mr. GEORGE ROOM, Japanner, of Birmingham, has manufactured princi- 
pally for .\merica. which i.= the best market he evirknenu after trying tvery one — 
W orkraen in general have not more than ha!f work Has tried 4he home trade ; 
but the competition is so great and pricp- ?o much reduced that it was not worth 
going after Has found very little relief f om thj» trade to Sicily and Portagal, 
5v;iich :s the only foreign European trade they ':ave had, and which doe6 not benr -ny 
th 'ng like a comparison to the American trade. From 600 lo iOOO Viands employ- 
ed in thi-s business in Birmiogham alone : and there are great manufactories io 
Bi'ston and Wolverhampton. 

Mr. ROBERT FIDDIAN, manufacturer of brass candlesticks, &c at Bir- 
ffiingham, chiefly for home consumption. Trade mucii diminished w^in the last 
12 months, and earnings of workmen reduced one fourth. Had aHfoversatitn 
:wi:h some of his men on the subject of dismisdon ; they entreated him not to 
dismiss them, saying, ''y.ouknow we ^cannot 2:et employment elsewhere," and 
begged that he woilM apportion :he work among them, and let each heir a share 
of the burden Stock very much increasing, and will be obliged to dismiss a 
numb, r of his men. unless an alteration takes place speedily. Has no doubt th^it 
his trade mould be put inf-o its former pfq/itablt situation^ if the American trade 
wj,s > giin opened 

Mr. JOSEPH WEBSTER, wire manufacturer, of Birmingham. Half his 
mnnufr.cture for the American nr^H'^kd, and ha f for the home trade. The de- 
TTHnd very much diminished^ so -hat alihouzh his manufacture is redcced, his 
stock is much increisp.d Hts orders from America tvhich n-inld exh aust all his 
•grenj stjck on hand, if the orders m a^uncil w^re repedcd. If no f ^vcn. -ble change 
taires place, be shall feel himself compelled to discharge a gre^t «uinber of his 



3^0 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



May 5, 1812. 

Mr. JOSHUA SCHOLFIELD, Amprican merchant, Birmingham. Trnc!e 
first began to fall off in 1^03. la 1809, rather better, but still very limited, .'n 
1810, very large shipments for one season. The goods for 181 1 now lying iu Liv- 
erpool Has orders from America to ship as soon as the orders in cou.uil are rt" 
movedj as soon as the trade is opened. Has had frequent advices from his a^'tnt 
resident in America, that uianufaciure^ are very fast increasing there, ai.d has 
reason to know it froaa particular circumstances. One particular article loa* in 
great demand is card wire, for the manufacture of Cotton and wool card?, which 
is wanted for their machinery. Has h^d the article of nails countermanded on 
the ground that they can be manufactured cheaper in America than they can be 
imported. Has had many paivfvl ^pportuniiies of nitn€ -i>ing the distress tvhich 
prevails among the lower orders y.f the people in Birmingham : believes it to 
be extreme. Has a yvare.house in Wolverhampton : the loner ui atrs in quite as 
great distress thtre ; their good f may be bought at any price; there are msny- 
5mall manufacturers there. whi>a:re selling some of their stock at, he belie v-s, a 
lower rate than it cost tbem. Attributes the distresses cf the trade and manvfaC" 
hires principally to the orders in cnuncil^^ believing them to be the cause ff the ncn- 
intercourse with America Hats the most puinfiU forebodings that the eoniifucnce- 
ff the resir'ctijn^ upon the American trade rvilt give gr&at encouragement to the in-i 
crease of manufactures in America. 

Mr. JOHN BAILEY, merchant, of Sheffield —The mamifactures of Sheffield,- 
for the supply of the market of the Ur.ired States, employ 6,000 person?, b'-fidis 
others d( pendent on tiiat trade. The export to America is about one-t! hd 

of the whole manuficturps of Sr- tii. Id About o?:e-tenth of the u*-ual sp; 'pg 
ahipn ent w<is made in 1811 and none since Stocl: of goods has b^^^n iRcier.-:rg 
in S.ittffield to a considerable exter.t ; hut there are order:- f>r shipr'-entsto Awtf 
•ica. immediately on the rf grinding (f the orders in council, fnfoinii lion fr' d a 
large manufacturer, that rj^^ he now pays one-sixth part rf the wages which he did 
when the American tradt open : and that one half of what he has manuinc- 
tured for the last fiftfetn month*, is now dead stock. Arother cf the principal 
manufacturers informed him, that he 7iow employs only half f his usu^l riumhar 
of men^ whom he employs only four d^ys in n week ; that he reiains them from a 
principle of humanity, as t ey have grown old in his lervice, antJ that he 
iiolds in stock all his goods made in the last eighteen nr^onths Believes this to be 
a fair specimen of the general state of manufactures in SbefiReld. His orders for 
sijipmept, on the removal of the orders in council, amoui t to the whole twelve 
montiis' shipments. The amount of Sheffield goods ready f or shipment to Jmeri- 
\ ca iOO. ,0001. and orders on hand to the same am-nmt. Poor rates of SbtflBeid, 

year ending 1307, ll,000i ; now 18,000/ Wo'kmen'? wages not reduced,bu- they 
are now only employed about tin ee da* s in ti i wtpk. Every roan fuliy em- 
ployed before tlie loss of the American irade. Loner clashes never so much 
distressed as at present Some ■•rllclejj which wei w lurmerly exported from Sbef* 
Seid, are honv manufactured in Americ' » 

# May 13, 1812. 

Mr. WILLIAM MIDGEF.Y, woollen manufacturer, of Rod- dale. Lanca- 
shire —The parish contains about .36,000 inhrbitantR, of which about one half 
ar<? employed in this manufacture. He torni'^rly employed :;br.ut (-OO^ hands, now 
about 100. Began to turn off his hands when his stock bfcame very large, abf ut 
six months ago. Stock is still increasing ?^nd larger than it was before : and the 
home trade ha=! fallen off very much indeed Has in a ceusiderable degref ex- 
hausted his capital in trade, *' and if there be not an opening, it is impossible io 
" keep on my work people ; and I am di -tressed about the poor people, for they have 

not, many of them, half victuals Wjw " If the n»arket continues as it is now, 
must turn off 200 of his'hands, and if they are turned otF, does not see where 
they can get work any where else. Has lived in Rochdale most of his life lime, 
and been in business thirty years, but never knerif the distrfss so great as at pieseni. 
*' The di-itre^s is to he seen in the people':, c/^untr nances, every wpck gcffing thinner 

md looking worse fJthQSQ thai had a liltkmone}/ have had io (ak& io it^and th^y are 



APPENDIX. an 

*' almost run oul qf it ; they have spent nhat little they h&d, buy hrttii, " About 
two-fifths of this manufacture for the United States of America, and none for 
• foreign Europe. Has very large orders for America, which should have gone off 
more than 12 months ago. Has found that market, a steadj, sure and increasing 
one. Workmen's wages reduced. Price of oatmeal twelve months ago 2d. per 
pound, now Zd. If the trade to America was opened, there would be fair ena- 
ployroent for the manufacturers of Rochdale 

Mr. THOMAS SHORT, manufacturer of hosiery, at Hinckley, in Leicester- 
shire — The total number of persons employed in the manufacture at Hinckley, 
and the adjoining villages, nearly 3,000 About one-third to one-fcurth of the 
manufacture is for the American market, and the value about 30,OGOZ. per annum. 
In good times employs upwards of 200 hands, now employs about two-thirds of 
the number. In consequence of the less of the American irtarket^ the manufacturers 
generally siait they must titrn aff one-half of their hands^ if the demand is not 
greater than at present. Twelve to fourteeii hundred persons unemployed. The 
home trade is much injured by the competition of persons formerly in the foreign 
trade : and it now affords no profit. 

May 14, 1812. 

Mr. WILLIAM THO.AIPSON, woollen manufacturer, of Rawden, near 
Leeds. Has been in butiaej-s 30 years. In 1810 employed 650 hands, and man- 
factured 6,000 pieces of goodi for the American market. In the last yea# 

made 4,000 pieces and has dismissed 200 hands. His stock oi' goods worth up- 
wards of 90,000^. being much greater than at any former period, r^j^ The re- 
maining h'ands have not more than one-ib:rd work, ^^j^ In good times his men 
earned from 16.s. to 305. a week, and now only one-third- Never knew 
the poor in so distressed a state before j not even when corn was dearer in 1800 ; 
they had plenty of work at that time. The distress of the wrrhmn is very evident 
by {heir countenance^ and by the rcggedness of their dress. They are evidently in. 
a worse siiuation then I ever knew them before.''^ If a favourable change does 
Dot take place, must dismiss the whole of his hands, as the heavy stock of goods 
render it out of his power to continue them. Made a small shipment to ^^outh 
America, about twelve months ago, but has not yet received any returns ; 
and will not ship farther at present. Made a shipment to Canada, vcuue 
30,000^. about fourteen months ago, for which he has not yet received one-sixth j 
and those goods that did sell were to a considerable loss, say from 25 to 30 per- 
cent. If there nas an open trade to America, all the distresses muld be very short- 
ly removed : activity would be resumed, and the countenances of the poor wouki 
chanje very fast ; if that were once effected, it would give a general spring to 
our neighborhood. Has orders from Amerka, for the whole of his gowls, pro- 
vided the orders in councii were rescinded. 

Mr, CHRISTOPHER LAWSON, woollen merchant, of Leed?. In good 
times exported to America, to the value of 80,000/. annually Present stock of 
goodi 40,000i. Made a shipmeat to Amelia Island in IS 11, under the idea that 
it might get into America, but it remains ttiere at present. Conceives all the 
merchants trading to America are in the same stale. The common calculation 
that Yorkshire goods are exported to America, to the am&unt cf trvo millions annu- 
ally. Great complaints have been made of the home market for the las-t six 
months. Q^ys Ha- orders ,for goods to be siiipped to America, on the repeal of 
•the orders ;lj council. 

May 15, 1312. 

Mr. DAVID SHEARD, blanket and Pushing manufacturer, of the parish of 
D-"r bury, la good times employed about 800 hands : 100 of them are now 
qui' e out of employ, and the renmmder have ore-third, or one-four? h wcrk ^ 
The average wages of men. women and children, in good times were 1 1 j. a 
v» f X, and are now 3s Pcf. The manufacturers have given over accumulating 
stock : they do not wi^h to run into debt, and the money they had is ail made up 
ir.^o iioods ^'^'et^kiy wage.? paid in the hamlft, in good limes, used to be 
ijow 2^il. Tmnks ttie home trade as good as it was. Trade begau to fall off iii 



THE OLIVE BRANCH 



llie begiorrin^ of 1811 : and among the lower orders nf the people there is very grai 
dutress indeed. If favourable cii cuiustancet do not turn up, will be obliged to 
turn off half of tiie 700 hands "he n^w employs. Had a good trade before the 
intercourse with America was stopped. 

Mr. FRANCIS PRATT, merchant and wo(/llen manufacturer, of Saddle- 
worth. The trade has fallen off very considerably since 1810, owing to the want 
of American trade. His own stock of goods larger than it ever was before, be- 
ing nearly 30,000^. The district of Saddleworth contains a population of nearly 
12,000 persons, most of whom are engaged in the woollen business, and they do 
not now get half the work they used to have. His capital absorbed in goods, 
and if here is not a market soon, must discharge his D'en in toto ; which is the 
case with manufacturers in general in that district. In tO or ^0 years he 

has never known the distress equal to the present. Gie?t numbers of the people 
never taste animal food at all : (heir principal food is oatmeal boiled in water ; 
and sometimes potatoes for dinner. Was informed, by a very honest man, Q^that 
he, his wife, and all his children, had to go to bed, and had not even a rno.sel of 
that oatmeal and water to put into their mouths. fC?' ^^'^ informed by 
anothej that lie had got some little oatmeal, and boiled it in water ; that he had 
to wet it in water instead oi' milk, or any oth^r liquid, with his food. The peo- 
ple have been very peaceable in this parish ; and is certain they w ill rema'.a so^ 
provided they could get employment, or any thing near full employnieut : they 
have no disposition at all to riot. Has inquired in some instances whether the 
poor have received parish relief ; but believes that in the principal part of the 
manufacturing districts, the poor would nearly starve, probably not to death, but 
pretty close to it, before they went to the par'sh; for this reason — they hate not 
been accustomed to it, and it is a kind of disgrace or sometliiuj of that kind, aiid 
they will not go toit If they can get half work and half wages : they will take 
every means in their power to keep off the parish Oatmeal is 3 l-2d to 4d the 
pound, or double the usual price. Potatoes are about the same proportion : nev- 
er knew them any thing lite so high as they are at present. Has no doubt that 
if goods could be shipped to America, there would be work. The poor are not 
^eil clothed. 

May 20, 1812. 

Mr. JOHN HOEFMAN, churchwarden of the parish of Spital Fields.— The 

looms eniployed in the manufacture of Spital Fields, about 17.000, to 20,000 ; 
and about .%000of them are in the parish of Spital Fields, nhere at least one half 
of the weavers are out of employment^ and the longer orders in a most deplorable 
state. More than one instance has occurred, where they had died literally 

for want. Soup distributed is about 3,000 to 4 000 quarts a day. Has dismiss- 
ed a considerable number of his hands, "who were employed in the sUk trade.— 
The light silks of Spital Fields sell in America ; of other sorts the French are 
cheaper than ours. If the American trade was open, there would be an oppor<- 
lunity of sending a considerable qnantity of goods there ; has in the course of 
some years, manuf ictured goods for the American market, prineipafly of the 
sHght quality Within these two years there hag been no trade to America : and 
therefore he was obliged to turn off liis hands employed for that particular trade, 
ff the trade was opened asuln. has no hesitation in saying those very articles 
would find sale there ; and he would take back the hands he had dismissed, 
wbich he believes is the case with others in the «ame line as himself.^ In October 
"la5t he purchased potatoei for the workhouse ?.t 3/ lOs. per ton ; within the last 
six weeks they have been selling in Spital FiC'd.*' market at 121 13Z. and \ 4l. a 
ton. Persons who have died for want, have applied for, and obtained relief ; but 
they were too far gone before they made gppiication ; has uniformly found that 
the industrious poor will never apply for :e ief till the very last extremity. Be- 
lieve.^^ that more than a fifth of tlie siik nicsnufactured in Spital Fields went to 
America ; and more than one-third of his own manutacture, for seven years, was 
for the American market. The want of an dequate suppl} ot raw siik. has 
been one great cause oi the want of employ^ anxi coiisequent distress of tlie mad" 



APPENDIX. 



. . ■ , ) ••■.C.I iijc ii.nue js open. Hf » 

o good,, on nand, wmcn is t.ie case of tiie mani!tac!ure.-s iu aeZfJ 
LL/ . ■•■ ^ very large amo.ut to be s/i pped in the ev.nl of m, 
rounai ft- , . anrferf. Ha- ..o doi.bi that order* of thU kind/which are no" 
,n Manc..^. _.o„.d. .f exenat.d gr-arly reireve the distress of that placed 
^ t1\ <Ae ,rorfcme« in Manchtsler and the neighborhood is ijy deplo- 
raole. Tluy are deficient tn m,rk and are working , t exlremely l.,n, Z Js {{ 
the .imencan tr«d.Y^a-^open. would not fear rhe couipelition of *„,eiica,f m-,„ 
f,ctu,-crs -.0 the market, a. he conceives they are only fDiced into ti,« me" nre ' 
beveral adventure, which he has made to South America have left cons deraS 
lo,,. Cannot .rate the propo Iron which the America,, market bears to the iene 
ra ,na,-,ufactory of Manchcste.^ a^,d Us neigi.bo. hood ; but f,o,n his generriVnow 
ledge of Its y..st ,D3uence upon the manufacture in genera), is convinced™ at the 
exports annually amount to an enormous sum. qj. Has no doubt that i the A 
roerican market was freely open, there would bTiuU emp'o-, n.ent for rhVld 
ing manufacturers of Manchester 1\ hen the trade with (n e c, from P, " 
and tliis country were both open, did not rv„Pri,.n.<. t,,,. ,1 ' - '\"»"=e 




the 

4 ' r"'" "o'^ 'lie , east apprehencmn nf 

j.ny. The present duty on ,aw cotto.i in fi-a,rce b.i„.. about 3s a po,, ,d amrr°, 
to a prohibition ; and any country inrposlng such a duty cannot l lomiTu^ .i 
to establish any great inauufacture. »ciiousiy inttinl 

I trust there is here superabundaBf testimony of the transcen- 
aant folly and madness, as well ,-s of (he flagrant iiiiustifie of 
the system pursued by the British ministry, which inllictedso 
much misery and wretchedness on that interesting and valua- 
ole class of suljjects, the manufacturers. The testimonv U 
equally sirong against the most lamenlahle folly of our own pi 
tizens, who, by rendering nugatory the restrictive system 'so fp' 
tally involved, in the horrors of a wasling war, two g"'at nt 
lions whom ten thousand motives, arising from mutual interest 
-common descent-congenial manners-and sameness of Ia„! 

During the progress of these examinations, on the 21st of 
May, the official repeal of the French decrees Was comiii nl 
-cated by Mr. Russel, the Atierican minister, to the courTof " " 
James. But notwithstanding the solemn pledge of the Br (Uh 
ministry to proceed ;;.an>««-« with the French government in 
the I,usmes8 of repeal, there was no step tak^n res.iecti^g the 
orders m council, till the 23d of June, that is, for neaw/fi e 
weeks. Nothing was done till after the wh^le exaSticn 
was completed and until, six days after, an addressTad ,eea 

iiam, on the 17th of Juse, grounded on the result of the exa- 



384 



THE QLIVE BRANCH. 



minations, which was withdrawn by the mover on a pledge 
the miaisters that the orders would be repealed. 

As a palliation for delay, it has been stated by the friends of 
England thtt the assassination of Mr. Percival, the British 
premier, on the lith of May, distracted the attention of the 
ministry, and prevented the redemption of the pledge. BijLt 
this palliation w\ll not bear a moment's reflection. The parlia 
menlary examination was predicated on the injury the British 
trade siiifered— and h td not the slightest regard to any other 
consideration. And as I have stated, the revocation of the 
orders in council was not attempted till that examination was 
fin'shed. Nearly five weeks [thirty-three days] had elapsed 
from the notification of the French repeal, and forty-three days 
from the death of i\lr. Percival. And no man can pretend 
th it one or two weeks would not have been abundantlj^ suffi- 
cient. 

To prove the charge I have adduced agahist the British mi- 
nistry of gross im olicy, as well as mjustice, in their treatment 
of this country, which led to the wasting war so i/ijurious to 
both nations, I su mit to the reader part of a speech delivered 
in the British house of commons by Mr. Whitbread on the 13th 
of February, 1812, a »out four months previous to the declara- 
tion of hostilities, respecting the diplomatic intercourse between 
tlie two countries., 

*'Of Mr. Pinkney he need say little : he was a man of sound sense and judg- 
aoent, of an able and acutr mind, and of the highest reputation. He was a man 
who had conducted himself during hi? residence in this country, in a maDuennos't 
honorable to himself, and likely lo benefit both nations. At all times, taking the 
most impartial view of the different interests concerned, his conduct, though firm, 
had been mo?t conciliatory Without losing signt of the claims of his country, 
with which he was intrusted, he had at all times approached the ministers with 
whom he was in treaty, with respect, attention, and deference. Firm to his pur- 
pose, and able to elucidate the subjects under discussion, he had never failed in 
time, punctuality^ or mode of procedure, in his mission. He would he could say 
€s much for those with whom Mr Pinknpy hn.d initrcourse. But it was not so . 
-and it was impossible to say that that genllerean liad been treated with the prop- 
er and punctilious ceremony he merited by the marquis Wellesley. At the pe- 
riod when this correspondence commenced, a great sorene^s prevailed in Ameri- 
ca, on account of the rupture with Mr. Jackson. T^he feelings of that country 
were in a state of eooireme irritation ; and this tapic was the subject of Mr Pink- 
ney's first letter to the noble marquis One would have thought at such a time 
that a minister would have felt that no want of decorum or attention on his part^ 
should be superadded to augment the unpleasant feelings already too prevalent; 
but it FO happened, tfeat to this very letter of Mr Pinkney, of the 2d January, 
on the «?ubject of another nnnister^s baing appointed in the room of Mr Jackson 
no answer was returned until the 1 4th of March Upwards of two months of 
precious time were wasted, during which Mr Pinkney, aware that some tiiee 
laight be necessary, waited with the naost patieat regpect and decoruia. 



APPENBIX, 



^* Oq the iMb of February, the American minister again wrote to the British 
secretary, on the subjeci of our blocNade, one of the m^st important in discu^saU 
aud in all its bearings between the two countries. To tuis no answer was re- 
turned till March 2 Again, on the 30th of Apiil, Mr. Pinkney addressed a 
letter to lord Welleslev^ relative to the Berlin and Milan decrees, whic'. were 
considered as the chief >ource of all existing differences, and therefore me/ited 
the most earnest and immediate attention j bat to this letter no an>;wer was ever 
returned. 

** On the 3d of May following, another letter was sent to our foreign secretary, 
comjdaining of the. forging of skips'' papers^ carried on in Londm^ by ivhich Brit- 
ish ships and property tvere mide io appear as American. Tiiis traffic was ailedg- 
ed to be openly and aotoriou-ly carried on ; and it was cot possible to conceive 
one more infamous to t;ie nation where practised, or injurious to the country a- 
gaia-^-t which it wa? directed. Vet thi^ charge ofinfimy against Briidn^ this in- 
justice and injury Iq , America^ was passed over in utitr silence^ and no ansntr 
whatever to the letter was returned. 

On the 'i3rl of June, Mr Finkney again wrote referring to his letter of the 
30th \pril, on the subject of the Berlin and Milan decrees, and requesting an 
•answer ; but no answer was retnrned. On the Ttn of July iie wrote again rela- 
trv'e to the appointment of a minister in the room of Mr Jackson, (his nr^t sub- 
ject on the 2d J:\nuaiy) and even at tliis distance of time received no official an- 
swer, but merely a verbal assurance or private note, tliat a minister would imme- 
diately be sent out On the 8t!i of Auju^t, Mr Pinkney once more wrote, refer- 
ring to his letters of the 23d June and .jOth April , but could obtain no answer. 

On the 2lst August, he again by letter pressed the subject of blockade ; but 
could obtain no answer On the 2jth of the same month, he again wrote to 
state the revocation of the Berlin and Milan decrees ; and ;o this communication 
our n;inifter at length condescend^ d to send % reply The next part of the cor- 
respondence was anothf r lelter from Mr. Pinkney, relative to a raisapprehen-ioo 
ol Sir James Saumarez, on the nature of the blockade at Elsineur, and on the 
impressing of certain seamen from an American ship. To the former subject an 
an?wer was returned ; hut of the latter no notice 7va^ taken. He had indeed been 
much surpri;ed at the whole cour.se of this correspondence ; but at this particular 
period his astonish ncent was greater than ever. That a subject so keenly felt by 
Am'^j ica, as the impressing of her citizens, should be entirely passed over in si* 
leuce, was beyond ail former neglect and inattention. 

** All the world knew that this point was the one on which the greatest difficul- 
ty existed in iiegociating an amicable adjustment l>fetween the two countries, and 
that Qitr conduct towards American stamen stood more in the w::y of conciliatirm 
than any other matitr whctecfr. Surely then such an opportunity ought not .o 
hav - been neglected : surely it was the duty of the British minister to show by 
his spe«dy attention to the subject, that he was as anxious to evince -the spirit of 
conciliation as to profess it : and that, knowing how fatal to the interest of this 
country a rupture with America would be, he would have eaojerly embraced 
opening presenting itself, to demonstrate our amicable intentions, aiid remove 
©ne of tiie sorsst grievances complained of. But, no 1 reluctantly and coldly 
was the answer on thi? subject wrung forth — not from the noble .secretary, not by 
letter from iiim. but practically by the discharge of these seamen, by Sir Will- 
ia n Scott, in the cou'^t of admiralty, thereby acknowledging and declaring the 
right and justice of the claim urged on the part of America. This was the con- 
ciliation of the noble secretary, that he permitted the sentence of a court of jus- 
tice to give a practical a "swer to a foreign minister, w^om he wculJ net take the 
trouble of pBttiog pen to paper to satisfy on .«?o interesting a point. 

On the 2 1st of September. Mr Pinkney found it necessary again to address 
th" British government and referring to his let'ers of the 30th April. 23d June, 
and Sth August, on the subject of the Berlin and Milan decrees, he urged an im- 
mc^diite answer, as his government had long been in pspectation of a communica- 
ti99 on that head. Again, on 'le Sth and 10th Decesibei-, he wrote; and with 

Eb 



366 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

these letters concluded his correspondence, being unable to obtain any satisfacto? 
ry information j and soon alter he demanded his audience of leave of the J lince 
ilegent." 

The wretched systern pursued by the British minisiry fo- 
■ivards this country produced consequences they did notioresee. 
it promoted our manufactures more completely in hve oi six 
years th^n ihey would have been in thirty — and it prouutti^ a 
war which has given us a navy, and a glorious navai chaw^^ier 
in the eyes of the world. 

CHAPTER LXI. 

England said to be sii^iggling for lur existence. This no palli- 
ation of her outrages on neutral nations. Attack on Copen- 
hagen^ 

Among th« various errors latelj^ prevalent, and pregnant 
%vith banetul consequences, a very important one was, that the 
European war on the part of England w»s a war for her ex- 
istence — and this has been alledged not merely as a palliation, 
but as a justification of her outrages upon our citizens and upon 
our commerce. In fact, the long succession of outrages she 
perpetrated, were covered over with this mantle of oblivion, 
for the purpose of defaming the administration that resisted 
them. 

I have already touched on this subject incidentally. It re- 
quires further elucidation. And at th« hazard of repetition, I 
resume it. 

The most important aggressions of England on the commerce 
©f this co.untry, may be referred to four epochs. — 

1. The lawless and preda.tory captures in 1 703, during the 
administration of gen. Washington. 

2. The application in 1805, of the rule of 1 756, without any 
previous notice or warning, and, to aggravate the euormity, a- 
gainst her own exposition of the law of nations, and agains t 
tlie decisions of her courts of admiralty 5 whereby the seas 
were piratically swept of the American vessels and com* 
merce* 

3^ The paper blockade by Charles J. Fox's administration 
of the coast from the Elbe to Brest, an extent of BOO miies« 
4. The orders in council, 
tbe^lB itt dtie course* 



APPENDIX. 



I. Lord Castlereagh himself, or the marquis of Weliesley, 
v/oulcl Qot dare to assert that Ihe depredations in 1 793 coidd be 
charged to jeopardy of her existence. They v ere wanton, un- 
provoked, lawless, and predatory to the last degree. Genera!^ 
Washington presided o ver the destinies of this country. He 
ha'^ resolved on and observed a fair and imparliai neutrality.— 
The manner, and time, and circumUaaces, were as monstrous 
as the measure itself. 

II. On the subject of the second, I shall merely refer the 
reader to the mercantile memorials of 1805-6,^ written andi 
signed by m«n who have since as ablj^ defended and justified 
the conduct of England, as at that period they unqualifiedly 
reprobated and denounced it. This change in their opinions 
and conduct does not change the nature of the facts. The 
proceedings of the British ministry at that period, must be con- 
demned by every honourable Englishman. They were unwor- 
thy of, and disgraceful to, a mighty and respectable nation. 

III. Charles James Fox's blockade was a gross violation of 
the laws of nations. — It w^as in direct hostility with previous 
declarations made by that statesman himself — as well as with 
the honorable and indeed the only legal definition of a block* 
ade, given to our government by Mr. Merryj the British m.ima- 
ter here, in these words : 

Admiralty OfSce, January 5\, 180i. 

*' Having communicated to the lords of the admiralty, lord Hawkesbury's 
letters of the 23d inst. enclosing the copy of a dispatch which his lordship had 
received from Mr. Thornton, his majesty's charge d'afiairs in America, on the 
subject of the blockade of the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe, together 
with the report of the advocate general thereupon, I have their lordships' com- 
mands to acquaint you, for his lordship's information, that they have sent orders 
to commodore Hood, not to consider any blockade as existing, unless in Rwe- 
PECT TO PARTICULAR PORTS WHICH MAY BE ACTUALLY INVESTED 5 
and then not to capture vessels bound to such ports, unless they shall previously 
have been warned not to enter them ; and that they have also sent the necessary 
directions on the subjed; to the judges of the vice-admiralty courts in the West 
Indies and America. 

I am, &c. 

EVAN NEPEAN-;. 

George Hammond, Esq." 

Here is the only fair, and honest, and honourable explana^ 
tion of the law of nations on this subject, laid down by England 
herself. This letter stands on eternal record — and seals thig 
Irrevocable condemnation of that vile predatory system, inhere- 
by, according to George Cabot, James Lloyd, and other Boston 
meinorialists, she was daring the course of the French wafji 

* See. chapters xiv, xv, xvi, and xvlL- 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



PREYING UPON THE UNPROTECTED PROPER- 
TY OF A FRIENDLY POWER/'f If Lord Cc!si!trecigh, 
the marquis cf Wellesley, lord Cathcart, George Caunin^-, Mr. 
Rose, or Mr. Wnr-in Disguise, should find this accusation some- 
what indigestible, let them hurl the gctuntlet at ]\Ir. Lloyd asd 
his friends. 

iV. The orders in council close the cata]o<rue. Thev will 

n ~ ml 

fcrm an eternal blot on ihe escutcheon ( f the admuiistrf tioa 
by V Inch they \^ere enacted, and so lorg; suj)ported. For their 
im^ oiicy I refer the reader to chf p'er LV. It \va5 at least e- 
qual to their flagrant injustice. 

Fre.m the istof March, 1809, they lost whatever jdea or pal- 
liation inifflit have [ireviously exifcled for them. The non-in- 
tercourse act, passed on that day. ^nai led Great Britain, at any 
hour she pleased, to o|;en cur ports to her trade and navigation 
— to shut them against ihe vessel*, and trade of France — and in 
effect to have ultimately produced uai befvveen that nation and 
ihe United Slates. 

The refusal of this offer was a clear, convincing, and unan- 
swerable proof, that her sole olject vas monopoly; and that, 
in the lanaupge of Mr. Eayard, retaliation vas merely " a j re- 
tence," Ber de[.^redations \ve^ continued without intermis- 
sion. I ask any honest Englishman — lUiy candid federalist, 
DOW that the reign of delusion has terminated, were these dep- 
redations, to pass over their immorality and injustice, such 
measuies, as, on mere principles of policy, a fiatic?i stmg- 
gling for her existeiice^^ ought to have adopted ? Was it jnst> 
or proper, or prudent, for " a naticn struggling' for her cristcnce^^'* 
to violate the rights, and to piuneler the property of an iinof- 
fending: neutral, and risk a war with that neutral ? Surely not. 

In a vord, I ask Timothy Pickering, Rufus King, Geoige 
Cabot, or governor Strong, whether the conduct of Great Brit- 
ain on the ocean w ere not as unjust, as arbitrary, and as law less, 
as that of Bonaparte on terra firma ? Whether the clandestine 
orders of 1793, and those of 1805, were not as perfidious, as 
faithless, arid as utterly indefensible, as any act of the French 
emperor ? And haally, to sum up the whole, whether there is 
in the history of mankind any act much more atrocious than the 
attack upon Cop<enl.agen, the capital of an innocent acd res- 
pectable neutral, for the purpose of seizing her fieet ? Wheth- 
er this act and the perfidious conduct of Bonaparte towards 

f Let it be ob-erved that the prediitory system of 1S05. denounced by the Bos- 
ton memorialists, hs preying npon the unprotected propeity of a filerdl} pow^. <^ 
er,'" waF incomporablv lef? unjuit ?nd more defensible than the subsequent cut- 
rages perpetrated on Amoricac comaierce. 



.APPENDIX. : ^ 

Spain are not exaelly of the s ioie cliaracter ? I annex Mr^ 
Roscoe's uccouiit of the horrijjle Copeahageii affair : — 

Amidst all the convulsions vvliich Europe liati experienced int;ons««» 
queTice of the revolution in France, the kingdom of Denmark had, by 
the vviee and temperate policy of her ruler, been in a great measure pre- 
served from the fatal consequences of those commotions which had over- 
tuiued governments of much greater political importance. This had 
been accomplished, not by humiliating herself to any of the belligerent 
pQvvers; not by espousing the cause of such of them as appeared for 
the moment to be successful ; but by maintaining a firm, dignified, and 
undeviating independence, neithei influenced by intrigues nor intimidat- 
ed by threats. Her naval and military egtablighinents,|though not great, 
Were respectable ; and, combined with the natural advantages of bei* 
situation, might justify her in the hopes of def<^nding herself with suc^^ 
cess against any enemy that should attempt to infiin^e upon her neu- 
trality. In order to defend this neutrality, the Daiiish government had, 
for a considerable time past, concentrated its army on its continental 
fro* tiers ; and it has been stated, that this measure was adopted at the 
instance of Great Britain, as being favourable to the protection of he$" 
commerce. In this situation the British fleet, wi*h a large military 
force, arrived on the coast of Zealand, where the Danish government 
saw no reason to recognize them in aiiy other character than that of 
fiienJs and protectors. They were there joined fey the German legion 
from the Isle of Rugen ; and Mr. Jackson, the British resident at Co- 
penhagen, according to instructions received from his court, DEMAN- 
DED FROM THE DANISH GOVERNMENT THE SURREN- 
DER OF ITS NAVY TO HtS BRITANNIC MAJESTY, to bo 
retained by him until the restoration of a general peace. This proposi- 
tion was indignantly rejected ; in consequence of which the troops were 
la ided ; and a proclamation was published by lord Catheart, the com- 
niauder in chief, stating the motives and objects of such a proceedings 
and threatening, that in case of resistance. THE CITY OF COPEN- 
HAGEN SHOULD BE DESOLATED BY EVERY POfeSIBLF* 
MEANS OF DEVASTATION. Unprepared as the city then was,, 
iiie crown prince gave orders that it should be defended to the last ex- 
tremity. Of the Danish navy, not a ship was rigged, and the crews 
wr^ie absent. On the second day of September the British troops com« 
menced the attack, on three sides of the city, which continued for sev« 
ercii days without intermission ; during which 6,o00 shells were thrown 
irjt ) the town, which was noon on fire in upwards of thirty places. The 
timber yards were consumed ; the powder magazine blew up ; the stee* 
pie of the cathedral church was in a blaze, and fell amidst the continu- 
al shouts of the British troops. From the mode of attack which had 
been adopted, /ion/ ?7z7i>s were 710 1 confined to the Danish sotdiery and I he 
armed burghers engaged in the de fencer of the city ; EXTENDED TO 
THE iNH ABU ANTS OF BOTH SEXES—THE AGED, THB 
¥ JUNG, THE INFIRM, THE SICK, AND THE HELPLESS, 
f\jr whose safety no opportimitu was afforded of providing, and great nuni'^ 
bers of whom perished by the bursting of ttie shells, the fire of the ariillery^ 
an the innamerahle accidtnts consequent on so dreadful and unexpected ai%- 
atlack. It s»oit appeared thai the city was unable to make an eflpctual 
•esistauce J the British forcts having appr...aicbied with their trenches^' 

H li2 



370 



THE OLIVE BRANCH 



near, as to be enabJeJ to set it on fire whenever they pleased. To pre% 
vent this consnmmation of misery, the Danish commander assented to 
terms of capitulation, by which he agreed to surrender up the fleet, upon 
condition that the British array should evacuate the island of Zealand 
within six weeks, and that public and private property shoald iu the 
mean time be respected.* 

Of this abominable and periidions affair, worthy of AI^iric# 
Attila, or Genghis Khan, it is impossible to read \vithout siiud- 
dering with horror. Every Englishman, who possesses a high 
sense of national honour, must deplore the stain they liav© im- 
pressed on the escutcheon of ^lis native land — and must join 
in the execration to which the upright part of mankind have 
consigned the ministers who planned and ordered the perpe- 
tration of such a scene of barbarous and merciless outrage. 

Away then for ever with the miserable cant of " astrugirle 
for her existence,^^ as not merely a palliative, but a justification 
6f "PREYING UPON THE UNPROTECTED PROP- 
ERTY OF A FRIENDLY POWER/'t This high and 
douining accusfilion against Great Britain, of '-^preying upon tJie 
iinprotecUd property of a friendly powcr'^^ was advanced by George 
Cabot, James Lloyd, Thomas Perkins, Arnold Welles, and the 
other Boston merchants who signed the memorial to congress 
in 1805 ; but who have from that period to tlie present been in- 
consistently the advocates of the British, and the accusers of 
thf ir own government. 

Eveiv nation at war mav be said " io struscs:U for her exist- 
ence,^^ But she is not therffcre to sirnggl''^'* her unoffending 
neighboiirs out of their ships, th ir s amen, their property, or 
the dearest rights of their sovereignty, to help to preserve her- 
self in a struggle^'^^ created by lawless ambition. 

A few short months have elapsed since the L^nited States, 
contending single-handed against the most formidable naval 
power that ever existed, might be emphatically and correctly 
said to be struggling for their exiHence^^'' which was really and 
Iraly jeopardized. What consummate folly and madness, as 
well as injustice, would it have been, to have commenced dep- 
fedations on the commerce of Russia, France, Spain or Hol- 
land, and to add one or more of those nations to the list of our 
enemies ? At such a critical time, it becomes nations to car- 

* Roseoe'f view of the causes, objects, aod consequences, of the pref- 
€«t ar— and od the expediency or the danger of a peace with Fiance, 
Ph?1adelphia Edition, page 42. 



t See Boston memorial, page 



APPENDIX. 



371 



TV their faculties so meek," as to give no reasonable cause of 
oiTenc^. If, therefore, the idea he correct, that Great Britain 
^vas really struggling for her existence, so far from justifying 
or palliating her conduct towards the United States, it only 
more fully proves the dire insanity of those miserable and fati> 
itous councils by which her aSairg were directed. 



CHAPTER LXII. 

^The loud clamour raised by the eastern states on the subject of 
representation^ whollij unfounded. The result of factious ddu' 
sion. Statistics, Examination of the representation in the 
Senate,^ 

To reconcile the people of the eastern slates to the parri- 
cidiil project of a dissolution of the union, there has been a 
great outcry raised on the subject of its inequalities and disad- 
vantages, and its oppressive operation on that portion of the 
nation, particularly in regard to the representation in the low- 
er house of congress. The m<)st extravagant errors are afloat 
on this topic. It is generally believed, that the southern states 
have an enormous and undue influence in that body, in conse- 
quence of taking the slaves into account in fixing the number 
of its members. 

I wave for a few minutes, the consideration how^ far this ^n- 
equility and injustice exist. For the s tke of argument I wjI! 
admit them for the present. And I resi>ectfully ask the reader 
whether it be possible to form a partnership or Goniiexi»3tt of 
any kind, without inequality ? Take any snecies you choose. 
E:^:amln8 the talents, the address, the capital, the means of pro- 
ni )ting the joint interests of tlie concern ; you will find that 
there is in some— perhaps in all tiies§ respects — a considerable 
inequality — that one party has an advantage in respect to un- 
derstanding, or influence, and another in point to capital or 
skill — -or in some other of the various wavs in which men differ 
from their fellow morials^. Go to the married state^ Examine 
there minutely. You will find the cnse the same. And I aver 
that it is almost absolutely im possible to form any connexioa 
whatever with a perfect equality. 

This being obviously and strikingly the case in those simple 
asso^ciation^ which I have considered, how could it be suopos^^d 

* This, anil the two succeeding chapteTS, are extracted from a pam- 
phlet pnbli<he<l Nov. 28, 1314, by the author of the Oliv Branch, aud 
e^t^led A Calai Addi'e^s to the People of the Eastern States." 



372 



THE or IVE BRANCH* 



that so delicate and so complicated an association as that oT 
thirteen independent sovereignties, more or less various in their 
habits, in their productions, in rheir climates, in their {)opula- 
tion,in their pursuits, could have been formed without a s^urit 
compromise — without a mutual balancing of advantages and 
disadvantages ? To expect it would be the quintessence of 
folly. 

But the reader will doubtless be astonished when h« finds 
what is the real state of the case. He will be convinced that 
the alledged grievances which have been made the instrumi nts 
of exciting the angry passions, and preparing our eastern breth- 
ren for rebellion, have no existence. Let the two legislative 
bodies be combined together, and it will be obvious that the 
eastern states have had and still have rather more than the 
share of influence to which their white population entl-les 
them. I have taken some pams to make the calculations re- 
quisite to lay the real state of the case l)efore the public : and 
1 submit the result in both branches of the legislature. 

Examination of the representation of the eastern states 1 1 th^ sen* 
ate of the United States, on the ground of white population only. 



Population of the U. States, Anno 1 79© 3,929,3 :^ 

Deduct slaves 697,(597 

White population 3,^' 3 1 ,629 

Total population of the eastern states ''1,009^22 

Deduct slaves 3,886 

White population l,0u5,C36 



Total niirnber of senators 23. 
As 3,231,629 : 28 : : 1,005,630 : 8,677, 

Thus, their exact proportion, had the slaves beea i^ejected^ 
was 8^677 ; w hereas they had ten senators. 



Population of the U. States^ Anno 1800 
Deduct slaves 



White populatiou 



5,303.666 
896,849 



/L406,8i.r 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



373 



Population of the eastern states 1,233,011 
Deduct slaves l,;i39 

White population l,231,t372 
Total number of senators 34. 
As 4,406,817 : 34 : : 1,231,672 : 9,502. 

Here again, they had more than their proportion, which was 
9,502 ; whereas they had ten. 



Population of the U. States, Anno 1810 7,239,903 
Deduct slaves I,l91,'l64' 



White populatioji 6,048,539 

White population of the eastern states 1,471.,973 

Total number of senators 36. 
As 6,048,539 : 33 : : 1,471,973 : 8,760. 

On this third cen6us, their proper proportion is 8,760 j v>'here* 
as they have, as before, ten. 



Thus it is evident that the eastern states have had hi the se- 
nate more th-in their due proportion of influence (rom the com* 
mencement of the government — and that in the present senate 
they have actually 14 per cent, more than they are entitled to, 
^JJ^ takinsr vito consideration merely th e white population of the na- 
tion, notwiihstanding the introduction of new states. 

Who can forget the daring threat held out by Mr. Quincy, of 
resistence to the introduction of new states, ''amicably if they 
could^ violently if they must 

Mr. Quincy repeated and ju?tined a remark he had made — which, to save all 
Misapprehension, he committed to writing in the following words : — if this bill 
p?.sses; it is ray deliberate opinion, t!iat it is virtually A DISSOLUTION" OP 
THE UNION ; tiiat it will free the ?tates from their moral obligation ; and as \i 
will he the ritrht of all, so it will be the duly of somf, TO PREPARE FOR A. 
SEPARATION, amicably if ihiy can— VIOLENTLY IF THEV MUST."* 

Any person unacquainted with the sulgect, to have heard or 
read Mr. Quincy 's speeches on this topic, would have concluded 



* NaHonal fntelligeDcer, Jan. 15, 1811, in the debate od the admissioQ of 
Orleans as a state. 



3 74 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

—and not unreasonably — that some lawless outrage had been 
perpetrated on the section of the union which be reprtsented; 
and that it was robbed of its due share of influence in the sen 
ate by that measure. How^ astonished must he be to find, that 
from the organization of the government, the fact has been di- 
rectly the reverse ; that it has had more than its share of inilu 
ence ; and that the other sections of the union have had solid 
and substantial causes of complaint on this subject I 

CHAPTER LXIII. 

Statistics continued. Slave representation fairly stated. Result. 

I now proceed to consider the state of the representation in 
the lower house, to w hich the loud complaints of Francis Blake, 
Mr. Lowell, Mr. Harrison Gray Otis, and their friends, particu- 
larly refer. They have been but too successful in persuading^ 
their fellow citizer^s that to the fatal source of slave re[)resenta 
tion may be ascribed all the manifold oppressions and injustice, 
"which they alledge the eastern states have experienced. 

I believe there is not one man in a thousand who has a concep- 
tion how very slight the inequality is here. I have asked a 
number of intelligent and well-informed men their opinions- — 
and si>me surmised 100 percent, beyond the truth — ©thers were 
wide of it 200 per cent. 

What must be your amazement, reader, to learn, that if all the 
slaves in the United States were discarded, in the apportion- 
ment of members of the house of representatives of the United 
States, it would make a. difference of only three in the number 
of representatives of the eastern states ? 

The white population of the United States at the 

late census, w^as 6,048,530 
That of the eastern states 1,471,9?0 

Total numlier of members 182. 

Actual representation of the five eastern states 4h 

As 6,048,539 : 18i : : 1,147,973 : 44,048. 

Thus it appears, that were the representation graduated by 
the tvbife population alone, the eastern states would be entitled 
to but 44 representatives. Therefore, the injury they sufier bfr 



APPENDIX, 375 

the admission of the slaves,is only a reduction of three mem' era 
in • jody oi io2— sviiereas they have oue auu a quarter more 
thaa they are entitled to in the senate, a bodj of 36 members. 
That is to say, and let it be ^ orne In rememuranee, in one 
branch ttiey are not two per cent, behiw thek proportion— and 
in the other branch, which is by far the more imiuential ..nd 
powerful, they have a )oat 14 per cent, ajore than they are fairly 
entitled to by their white population I 

J view of the slave representation in the house vf representatives. 
Census of 1810. hauo. one representaiive for 35,0U0 mliabi- 
tants, 

Maryland. — Total population 380,546 
Deduct slaves 11 J, 502 



Divide by the ratio 35,000)269,044(7 

Reminder 2^,044 
Add three-fifths of 111,502 slaves 66,900 

Divide by 35,000)90,^4 -(2 

Fraction rejected "~20,944 
Nine representatives — 7 for whites — 2 for slaves. 

Virginia,— ToidX population - 974 522 

Denluct for slaves 392^51 8 

Divide by S5,000)582,104(l6 

Remainder 22 104" 

Add three-fifths of 392,518 slaves 235'504 



Divide by 35,000)25 7,6=J8(7 

Fraction rejected 12.607 
i. wenty-three representatives—l 6 for whites— 7 forsiavesj. 

Kentucky— ToidX population 406 511 

Dedu&t for slaves 80,561 



Divide by 35,000)325,950(0 



376 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

Remainder 10,959 
Add tiiree nfths of 80,561 slaves 48,336 



Divide by 35,000j59,28C(l 
Fraction rejected 24,286 
Ten representcilives — nine for xshites — one for slaves. 

North Carolina. — Total population 555,500 
Deduct slaves 168,824 



Divide by 35,000;386,t):C(l 1 

Remainder 1,676 
Add ihiee-fifths of 168,824 slaves 101,292 



Divide by 35,000) 02,9U^(2 

Fraction rejected 32,968 
Thirteen representatives — 11 for whites — 2 for sUves. 

South Carolina, — Total population 41 5,1 1 5 

Deduct slav es 19i,Se5 



Divide by 35,000)218,750(6 

Remainder 8,760 
Add lliree-fifths of 196,365 slaves 11 7.837 



Divide by 35,000)126 587(3 

Fraction rejected 21,587 
Nine representatives — 6 for T\hites — 3 for slaves. 

Georgia,~To{R\ population 252,433 
Deduct slaves 105,218 



Divide by 35,000)147,215(4 

Remainder 7.rl5 
Add three fifths of 105,218 slaves 63,1 29 



Divide by 35,000)7O,:i44(2 

Fraction rej'^^cted 344. 
Sis representauves — 4 for whites — 2 for slaves. 



APPENDIX^ 37? 

Tentiessee.—ToieA population 261,727 

Deduct slaves 44,535 

Divide by 35,000)217,192(6 

Remainder 7,192 

Add tliree-fiftlis of 44,535 slaves 26,721 

Fraction rejected 33,913 



No jepresentative of the slaves. 



A few fads on the subject of the slave representation in the 

lower house. 

New York, by the first and last census, hris had for tenyearg^ 
an l will have for ten more, one slave reprsentaiive. 

To- :l oopulation of New York, Anno 1790 340,120 
Deduct slaves 21,324 



Divide by the ratio of 33,000)318,796(9 

Remainder 21,798 
Add three-fiiths of 21,324 slaves 12,792 



Divide by 33,000)34,588(1 
Fraction rejeeted 1,588 



Total population of New York, Anno 181© 959,069 
Deduct slaves 15,071 



Divide by 35,000)944,140(26 

Remaincter 34,140 
Add three-fifths of 1 5,01 7 slaves 9,009 



Divide by 35,000)43,149(1 
Fraction rejected 3>149 

I i 



378 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Delaware has a slave representative. 

Total population of Delaware in 1810 72,6?4 
Deduct slaves 4,17 7 



Divide by 35,000)68,497(1 

Remainder 33,497 
Add three-fifths of 4,177 slaves * 2,505 



Divide by 35,000)36,002(1 
Fraction rejected 1,002 

Massachusetts, to her great honor, has no slaves. But it is f 
curious fact, that she has a representative of her black popula- 
tion. 

Her Whites are 693,039 
Biacks 7,706 



700,745 

This divided by 35,000, just allows her 20 members. De- 
duct the blacks, and she vrould have but 19. 



Representatives of slaves. 





1790 


1800 


1810 


Kew York 


1 





1 


Delaware 








1 


Blaryland 


2 


2 


2 


Virsjinia 


6 


6 


7 


uN"o: th Carolina 


2 


2 


2 


South Carolina 


2 


2 


2 


Georgia 


1 


1 


2 


Teanessee 





1 


1 


KeaUicky 





1 


1 




14 


15 


19 



The following views display the very extraordinary inequali- 
ties that exist in the representation in the s€»nate. 1 hry fully 
establish the necessity of mutual forbearance, ind the laudable 
spirit; of compromise that prevailed in the teuerai convention- 



APPENDIX. 



3 7^ 



VIEW 1. 



Free i^ersons. Senators. 



Massachusetts 
Newhampshire 
Vermont 
Comiectic'jt 
B,hode isiaud 



700,745 
214,460 
:^ 1 7,895 
1,632 
76,8:^3 

1,471,535 



10 



New York 
PeiinBylvajiia 
Virgiiiia 
North Carolina 
Kentucky 



Free persons. 
94 4,032 
809,296 
58i,l0t 
3cj6,676 
325,9j0 



3,0:^8,053 



Senators; 



10 



Thus it appears that the eastern states \vith only 1,47 
free persons, have as much influence in the senate 
as the above five middle states with 3,036,058 



VIEW 11. 



Free persons. 
Newhampshire 214,460 

V«i-illOllt 



Senators. 



CoLmecticut 
Riiode Island 



217,895 
266,032 
76,B23 



New Yoj'k 
Pennsylvania 
V'irj!^hiia 
JVorth Carolina 



Free per?ohs. 
944,032 
809,293 
582, i04 



Senators: 



2,722.108 



8 



Four or the eastern states, with 775,810 free persons, have 
as much influence as four middle and southern states with 
2,712,108 — and four times as much as Feansylvania with 



709,296. 



Free persons. 
Massachusetts 700.745 
Newhsmpshire 21 4. < 60 
Vermont 217,895 
Goniecticut 261,532 
Uhode Isiana 76,823 



VIEW nr. 



Senators. 



Maryland 
Virginia 
North Carolilia 
! Ohio 
Kentucky 
Tennessee 
South Carolina 
Geor;iia 



1,471,555 



10 



Free person?, 
2C9.044 
582,104 
386,676 
230,760 
325 9j0 
217,192 
218,750 
147,215 



Senatof?. 



2,377,691 



16 



The result of this comparison was utterly unexpected. It 
i^.as surprised me exceedingly, and will no doubt surprise the 
reader. It is a fair and overwhelming vie\F of the compara- 
tive influence in the senate, of the murmuring, discontented, 
and oppressed " nation of New England" with that of the whole 



fim OLIVE BRANCH. 



©f the anclest ** slave states," as they are called. It appears 
that the former have one represejatative in 
??eoate fur every 147,1 65 free persons, 

aaid that the latter have one for every 148,(305 do. 

The addition of Louisiana has altered the state of the repre- 
presentatioR. It makes the ratio for the slave states about 
13G.000. 

VIEW IV. 



Free p'^rsons. Senator*, 
lilioae Inland 76. 82 J 



1 15,320 



Free person?. Senator^. 
New York 9-14,0^2 
Pcmisyivania 709,296 



1,743,323 



One free person in Delaware or Rhode Island, it is obvious 
from the above view, possesses as much inllueiice in the senate 
of the United States as twelve in New York or Pennsylvania. 
And one in Delaware possesses nearly as much as fourteen in 
New York. Due in Rhode Island has more than seven in Vir- 



VIEW V. 



Free persor^s. Srnaiors. 
-Kew Hampshire *i 11,460 
Cciiiiecticat *i66,632 
Rhode hVdud 76,623 



557.924 



Virginia 



6 ! 



Free persons. Sefiators^. 



Three eastern states, with 557,^24 free persons, have six se- 
iiator3,.and Yirginia, with 582,104 has hut two. 

If the wisest and best oi' ihe citizens of ihe United States 
assembled in convention, with Gerieral Y/ashingtoo and Doc- 
tor Franklin at their head, found it necessary for the peace, and 
happiness, and res[)ectability of the country, to ratify the eon- 
stit'jtion, with such prodigious inequalities as are stated above, 
it is not difficiilt to form an opinion on the h4i3" and wickedness 
of the loud complaints of injustice and inequality, on i oinis to 
the last degree insignificant, whereby the spirit of sedition has 
been excited in the eastern states. 

The war question, it has been said, was earned by the sla\e 
representatives. This is an egregious error. The majority 
in the lower house was c30. And the whole number of slave 
representatives is only IP. So that h:u] Uiey been wholly re- 
jected, the vote would have been carried. I pass over the 



APPENDIX. 



381 



slave repre&entatires from New York and Delaware, both of 
wliom voted against the war. I likewise wave the considera- 
tion of the fact, that eleven members from the southern states 
also voted against the nieasure. 



A fair view of all the prececfmg^ tables and facts, w iii satisfy 
any man not whoHy destitute of truth and candor, that the inte- 
rests of the eastern states have been c^irefutly guarded in I oth 
branches of the legislature of the union. Their complaints 
are to the la-t decree groundless and factious. It will further 
prove, that Peansyivania has a stro:^:;er ground of complaint 
by far in the senatorial branch tlian the eastern states in the 
other. Vv'itha population of 800.296 free })ersons, she has but 
two senators; whereas Newhamnshire, Vermont, Rhode Island 
nnd Connecticut, with TT^^SIO, have eight. The difference is 
enormous and immense. 



$lakmcnt of the number of ineinlcrs in the house of representa- 
tives, aftor the different censu 





First. 


Second. 


Third. 


JTewlianipshire 


4 


5 


6 


Vermont 


2 


A 


6 


Massachusetts: 


14 


17 


20 


Cooneclicut 


7 


7 


7 


Bhode Island 


2 


2 


2 


IVTew York 


10 


17 


27 


New Jersey 


5 


6 


6 


Pennsylvania 


13 


18 


23 


Delaware 


1 


1 


2 


Maryland 


a 


9 


9 


Virginia 


19 


22 


23 


North Carolina 


10 


12 


13 


South Carolina 


6 


a 


9 


Georgia 


2 


4 




Kentucky 





6 


la 


Tennessee 





3 


6 


Ohio 


a 





6 


Louisiana 








1 




103 


141 


182 



i i 2 



382 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



CHAPTER LXIY. 

Inquiry into the charge against the southmi states of destreying 
commerce toprcvioic mamifactiires, Uiterly nnfoimdtd. The 
eastern states deeply interested in mnniifacturcs. The southern 
the reverse. 

There is one point, of considerable impcrtaace, on which 
our eastern fellow citizens liave been egregiousfy deceived, and 
on which it is desirable they should form correct opinions 

That the administration, and all the southern members of 
congress, are actuated by an inveterate hostility to commerce ; 
and that their measures have been dictated by a desire to de- 
stroy it, for the purpose of injuring the con.merciaI states; has 
been assumed as an incontrovertible fact, which could neither 
be disputed nor denied* It has been, as I have stated, re-echo- 
ed by governors and legislators — by inOamniatory writers in 
nevoS^rpapers — and by equally inflammatory clergymen in their 
pulpits, until any doubt of it is in the eastern state s believed to 
be as w icked and heterodox leal, as a doubt of the miracles cf 
the Koran is regarded b}^ the mufii at Constantinoj^le. 

It was necessary to find some motive for this hostility. It 
"would have been too monstrous to assert, that the sadhcmsr^f 
as some of the eastern writers have quaintly stiled the people of 
the eoulhern states destroyed commercce to promote agiiculture, 
and of course to advance their own interests. This would 
not bear examination, and was therefore abandoned. It was 
however necessary to devise a plausible pretext. And it has 
therefore been a thousand times asserted^ that the Jwstility to 
eommerce arote from a desire to promote manufactures, And 
this sorry tale has been believed hy the " 7nost enlightened^ portion 
of the " most enlightened ncition in the worUV 

The following facts and observations will show the transcen- 
dent foilv of tMs allegation. 

1. In the eastern states arc nmnerous and important manvfac- 
fiires estahlished on a lars:e and extensive scale. 

2. The extreme sterility cf a large portion of their soil, and 
tli€ cempar;itive density of their |>opiilation, render manufaetur- 
ing establishments indispensably necesssLry to them, 

8. They are therefore deeply and vitally Lnie rested in the pro- 
motion of manifacfures, without whioh tlie^- would be in a great 
me-^sure d/popuhited by the altraclicRS ef the western, middle; 
and southern states. r 



APPENDIX. 



383 



4. The maDufactures of tlie southern stales are principallj in 
private families. 

5. These states have no veduadaat populatioa. Their people 
fiod full tra;)loymeut in agriculture. 

6. Titty have therefore Utile or no interest in the promotiGn if 
manufacturing establishments. • 

7. But the reduction, or restriction, or injury of commerce, 
cannot fail mlally to injure them by lessening tJie demand for, and 
lowering the price of their productions. Wc have seen that it has 
produced tJiis effect, to a most ruinous extent. 

8. It irresistibly follows, therefore, that if the southern stiites 
wantonly destroyed or restricted commerce, to promote manu- 
factures, it would be infdcting tJie jnost serious and vital injury on 
themselves for the mere purpose of serving those states to whidi 
they are said to hear an inveterate and deadly hostilify ! ! ! 

9. Whoever, possessioo; any mind, can disseminate thos§ opin- 
ioas, must mean to deceive; for he caoDOt possifj'y believe them 
himself. 

10. Whoever can believe in such absurdities, may believe that 
rivers occasionally travel to iheir sources — that lambs devour 
wolves — that heat produces ice — that thorns produce fi^s'*— 
or, what is almost as absurd and ridiculous, that the soil of Mas- 
^aciiusetts is as fertile, and the climate as mild, as ihe cliaa?.te and 
soil of South Carolina or Georgia. 



CHAPTER LXV. 

Militia defence. System of classification proposed in congress. 

Rejected. A nful outcry . 

Towards the close of the late war with Great Britain, aa at- 
tempt was made in congress to employ in the defence of the na- 
tion a portion of the militia, in a mode the most simple, the most 
practicable, the most efficient — and at the same time, the least 
burdensome, that was ever adopted in any country. Tiiose per- 
sons, throughout the United States, who are subject torniiitia du- 
ty, were to be divided iato classes, each of twenty-five. Every 
class was to furnish one of its members, who was to ^ervefor cue 
year, or during the war, and who&e bounty was to be coatribu* 
ted by the rest of the class in certain proportions. Or, if none 



38-1 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

of the cluss tlionglit proper to volunteer liis services, a recruit 
was to be eulisted al their joint expense.^ 

Against Ihis noble system of dcFence, so equitable, so just^ 
so uiieKceutionabie — so adeauate to its end — so ea?v and free 
from burHien to our citizens — so likely to bring the \var to a 
close, by convincing the enemy of the impossibility of making 
any impression on us— there was a most hideous outcry raised 
in and out of congress — an outcry hi2:hly disgraceful and fac- 
tious. It was branded with the odious name of " Conscription^^'' 
and identified with the borri'-^e system of Bonaparte, whereby 
the whole male population of Frimce was subject to Lis despot- 
ic will and pleasure. 

The attempt was of course defeated. To the passions of 
the people the most inSammatory appeals were made. A most 
i amen table debjsion prevailed on the subject. Many of om* 
citizens were, by unceasinp; efforts, led to believe, that the ]>lau 
was wholly unprecedented in this country ; that it was Titterly 
unconstitutional and pernicious ; and that it was intended as the 
basis of a militHry despotism. And to such an a\Nftd extent was 
the frenzy carried, that open resistance was not obscurely threat- 
ened. Sexagenarian veterans, shaking tfeeir hoary locks, and 
burnishing their rusty, revolutionary arms, were disposed to 
punish, at the point of the bayonet, those whom they were 
taught to regard as violators of the constitution. 

It is hardiv nossible to conceive of a more awfijl delusion.— 
Never were the public cu]iibilit\' and credulity more miserably 
played upouc For, as I have already stated, it is hardly possi- 
ble to contrive a plan of public defence more just, more ratioir- 
al, more unexceptionable, or more efficient. 

Let OS examine the m^itter. Recruits for a rear, could have 
been readily procured at any time for two hundred dollars. Of 
course the tax on each individuals of twenty-five persons bound 
to furnish a reeruit, would be only eight dollars, for which he 
%vould be exempt from all the dangers, and hardships, and pri- 
vations of a military life t 

The British government would probably have made immense 
sacrifices to prevent the establishment of sucli a systein.t It was 

* These were the srand important features of various plans submitted to con- 
gress, and to the legislature of Pennsylvania, itvhicb were absurdly and discrr.ce- 
fully rejected. There were some unessential dlfftrecces between tliera. not worth 
attention in this dis cus.sion. To the honour of tliC enlightened and patriotic ie— 
gislature of New York, tliey were not deterred by the wretched, stupid and fac- 
tious clamour that prevailed on this subject They passed an act to raise 10.000 
men on the clasfification plan. 

t It is not extrnvagant to say, that policy would dictate to England the sacrifice 
^f millions of pounds ^terlicg to preveat the adoption of this, system, 



APPENDIX. 



the measure most reallv foriuidable and eiEcient against her veter- 
an armies, that had been devised. But surely this ougat to hdve 
been co reason why Americaa legislators siiould o[iposeit — or 
why the factious and tumultuous meetings, held todeiMKivise the 
system, should be eulogized as displays of 'Ulie .spirit (f seventy- 
«9?.r."^ Had such a v^ retched spirit prevailed in '76, tL=s j]!:lodous 
country ^\cuId never have emerged froai its colonial cuid de- 
pendent stale. 

From the extreme abhorrence of wars,'and battles, and blood- 
shed, and wounds, and scars, manifested by some of the mem- 
bers of congress — iVoni their \vai!ings, and lamentations, and 
strong sensibiiities, at (be possible loss of a single life, a stran^ 
ger might suppose they ^^sere quakers or menonisis, who were 
not merely conscientiously scrupuio'is against carrying arms 
themselves, bu i principled against varfare altogether .And from 
the delicacy of their constitutional excer tions and objections, 
it might be reasonably presumed, if the constitution were not 
at war with such a |)resumption, thai there was no power given, 
or Intended to be conveyed to the ireneral government, to com- 
fnand or coerce Ihe military service of aa^' iadividual citizen. 
It would appear, that the citizens of the United States had ob- 
tained letters patent from Heaven for enjoying all the benefits 
of Si#clety and of self-governmeni, without risking either life or 
limb — or shedding a dr >p of idood in their defence. 

While the public delusion on this tnpic lasted, argument vvas 
useless. Prejudice, find passion, and irrationality, almost uni- 
versally pivdominated. But every species of folly and mad- 
ness has its day. x\fter its speU is dissolved, it becomes harm- 
less and inoffensive. It is then a fair subject of inquiry and in- 
vestigation. The understanding of the public may be address- 
ed with a tolerable chance of success. 

I therefore venture to discuss the subject, and solicit the 
cdm attention of the reader. In case of future wars, from 
which we cannot hope to be exempt, it may be of cansiderable 
importance to establish correct o|dnions on a subject inferior 
to none in importance^ — I mean the most eligible mode of pub* 
lie defence. 

I therefore undertake to prove these seven proposition? : 
1. That there is no principle more clearly recognized and 
established in the consiitutions and laws of the several st-^tes, 

than THE RIGHT OF SOCIETY TO REQ,UIRE AND COERCE, Aft 

* In several parts of the union, factio;K and ?ed)tiou3 meetings were held to 
denounce this plan, whose proceedings were detailed in many of e«r papers, 
headed in large letter,? with the wgrds, SPIBJT *T6." 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



WELL AS THE DUTY OF THE CITIZEN TO AFFORD, 3IIL1TA- 
RY SERVICE FOR THE GENERAL DEFENCE. 

2. That the power of congress to call forth, and order the 
employmeiit of, the militia, in cases of invasicn, rebellion, or 
iDsurrectioiX5 clearlj^ established as any other power vested 
in that body, 

3. That the mode of drafting prescribed by the militia laws 
of the several states, is oppressive, unequal, and unjust. 

4. That the force so drafted is generally inefficient, and enor- 
Hiously expensive. 

That the system of classification is the most impartial— 
the most efficacious — and the least oppressive mode of calling 
into operation the militia, of any of the plans that have ever 
been devised, 

6. That the proposed system of classification prevailed du- 
ring the revolution — and of course, instead of having been 
borrowed from Bonaparte hy our present rulers, was, if borrow- 
ed at all, borrowed hy France from this country. 

That the classification or conscription system, most elab- 
orately mAfured by General Knox, and stamped with the seal ftf 
General Washington's approbation, was more strict and exteu- 
aive in its provision, than any of the recent plans. 

CHAPTER LXVI. 

Right of Society to coeree^ and duty of Citizens to afford, military 
service^ recognised by the Constitutions and Laws of the several 
states. 

To establish ray first point, that "there is no principle 
more clearly r€Coa;uised and established, in the constitutions 
and laws of several states, than the right of society to require 
and coerce, well as the duty of the citizen to atlord, military 
service for the general tlefence," I submit to the reader, ihe 
mo^t satisfactory extracts from the constituticns cf New-ilAnip- 
shire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New-York, Pennsylvania, Del- 
aware, and Kentucky; and from the militia laws cf Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut, Rhode-Island, New- York, New- Jersey 5^ 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, and Kentucky.— 
These are ail the states whose statute books i have been able 
to procure. 



APPExN'DIX. 



Ml 



The declaration of rights of the state of New-Hampshire^ 
expressly provides that 

Every member of the community has a right to be protected by it, in the en- 
joyment of his life, liberty, and property : l»e is therefore bound to contribute 
his share to the expens»; of such protection ; and TO YIELD HiS PERSONAL 
SERVICE WHEN NECESSARY, or an equivalent.'' 

It gives the governor for the time beino^, complete and plena* 
ry power, by himself or any chief commander or officers^^^ 

'* To train, instruct, exercise, and govern the militia and navy ; and for the 
special dt-fence and safety of the state, to assemble in martial array, and jnit in 
rcarlike podure the inhabitants thereof y- and to lead and conduct them ; aad witli- 
them encounter, repulse, repel, resist, and pursue, by force of arras, as well by 
sea as by land, within and without the limits of the state, every such person or per- 
saas as shall at any futuie time attempt the destruction, invasion, detriment, or 
annoyance of the state." 

It further invests the governor with the mighty, the tremendous 
powder, 

** To use and exercise ff^er the army and navy, and over the 'tnilitia in actual 
service.THE LAVT MARTIAL IIM TIME OF WAR, INVASION, MSD 
ALSO IN REBELLION, declared by the legislature to exist, as occasion shall 
necessarily require." 

Nothing can be more clear and explicit than these provisions. 
They level in the dust the volumes of rant and declamation, 
which have been uttered in congress, and with which the press 
has teemed on this important topic. 

Tiie constitution of the state of Massachusetts contains the 
same provisions, couched in the very sam« words, as that of 
NeW'Harapshire. One has been obviously copied from the 
other. It is therefore unnecessary to make any extract f^em 
that of the f(»rmer state. I refer the reader to the volume of 
the constitutions of the United States. 

The constitution of New-York expressly declares that 

* Whereas it is of the utmost importance to the safety of every stnte, that it 
shc^ildaiwayt be in a condition of defence, and IT IS THE DUTY OF EVE- 
RY MAN WHO ENJOYS THE PROIECTION OF SOCIETY, TO BE 
PREPARED AND WILLING TO DEFEND IT. Therefore this coQTen-- 
Ifon, in tiie name and by the authority of the good people of this state, doth or- 
daiii, -determine and declare, that the nailitia of this state, at all times hereafter^ 
as well in peace as m war, shall be armed and disciDiined^ and IN READINESS 
¥OR SERVICE," 

Th« declaration of rights of the constitution of Vermont^ 
states that 

'* Every member *f society halh a right" to be prot^^ted in the enjoyment of 
life, liberty, and property ^ and Iheiefore is bound to contribute his proportion 



388 



APPENDIX 



towards the expenses of that protection, and YIELD HIS PERSONAL SER- 
VICE, wheu Jiccessary, or an equivalent thereto ^^^^iVcr c^n any nian who in 
conscientiously scrupulous of hearing anns^ be justly compelltd ikertto. IF HE 
WILL FAY SCCH EQUIVALENT.'^ 

The old constitution of Pennsylvania is in uniaon ysiih thosjc 
aL'-eady quoted — viz. 

" Every member of society hath a right to be protected in tlie enjoyment of 
life, liberty, and property ; and tlierefoie is bvund in contribute his proportion 
towards the expense of that protection, or an equivalent thereto ; but no part of a 
THan's properly can be justly taken fiom him, and applied to public uses, without 
his consent, or that of his legal representatives : nor can any man who is consci- 
entiously bcrupulous of bearing arms, be justly coujpelled thefeto, if he nill pay 
such equivalent,'''* 

The existing constitution of Pennsylvania is equally clear: 

The freemen of thi? commonwealth shall he armed and disciplined fftr its de- 
Those who conscientiously scruple to bear arms, shall not be compelled to do so , 
but shall pay an equivalent for personal Venice. " 

Kentucky hokls the same language — ^ 

*^ The freemen of this commonwealth (negroes, mulatoesp^nd Indians exeept- 
fcd) shall be armed arid disciplined for its defence. Tho-e who coiiscitTitioUtly 
scruple to bear arms, shall not be compelled to do so j but shall pay an equiva- 
lent for personal iernce." 

The old constitution of Delaware had a clause nearly verba- 
tiai with some of the preceding — 

Every member of society hath a right to be protected in the erjoymont of 
life, liberty, and properly ; and is therefore bound to contribute his proponion 
towards the expense of that protection, and YIELD HlS PERSOiVAL SER- 
VICE, when necessary, or an equivalent thereto. '* 

1 presume I might here dismiss th« siibiect. It is impassible 
to resist the conviction the foregoing clauses j9ash on the mind. 
They strike dead cavilling and casuistry, declamation and soph- 
istry, as \vith the forkefi lightning. The wisest and best men 
of seven states, engaged in the all-important duty of framing 
forms of goverument for tb^ir fellow citizens, solemnly recog- 
nize the paramount right of society to coerce, and the imperi* 
ous duty of the citizen^ to afford personal service, or an equiva- 
lent, fi- the general defence. And the intelligent and respect- 
able men who framed the constitutions of New-Hampshire and 
Massac hiisetts, invested th« governors with the power to lead 
the militia in pursuit of an enemy, " within and without the 
staieT a lid to exercise MAPtTIAL LAW on the militia, as 
well as on the regular army. 

I now piQceeU, to detail the legal provisions on this point.-— 



APPENDIX. 



They will be found equally clear and conclusive. I begin with 
Massaohusetts. 

" Whenever the governor, or commander in chief, shall order a detachment 
from ttie militia aforesaid, and any person who shall be detached in obedience of 
SUCH orders, benig duly notified thereof, and ordered to march to the place of 
rendezvous, shall neglect or refuse to obey such order, or shall not, within 
twenty-four iiouis after he shall have been notified as aforesaid, pay a fine of ten 
pounds 10 tiie captain or commanding officer of the company to which he 
shall belong, or procure an able-bodied man in his stead, SUCH PERSON 
SHALL BE CONSiJERED \S A SOLDIER IN SUCH DETACHMENT, 
AND BE DEALT WITH ACCORDINGLY ; and in ail cases where the said 
ili\e< shall be paid, the same shall be applied to hiring men for any service which 
ahaii be required of the company under the command of the captaia or officer 
who shall receive the same."* 

Should any commissioned officer of the militia refuse to 
make a detachment from the corps under his command, for the 
purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, &c« 
then 

" In addition to the punishment which may beinSicted by virtue of any act for 
regulatin;^ the miiitia. iT convicted tnereoi before the justices of the supreme ju- 
dicial court, he shall" be subject to be tin^'d in a sum not exceeding 30 pounds, and 
io he, adjudged incapable of sustaining any office in fhis commonwealthy for a term 
not exceeding ten years ; to f itner or botli of the said penalties according to the 
aggravation of the offence and cirjumstances of the offender, as to the justices 
of the said court shall seem meet 

And be it further enacted, Tiiat if any person, whether non-commissioned 
officer or private, and belonging either to the tram band or alarm list, who shall 
be detached or ordered to march for the support of the civil authority, or sup- 
pression of any insurrection,, existing or apprehended, as aforesaid, -^hall refuse or 
neglect to march, armed and equipped in tiie manner and at the time which the 
officer by whom he shall be detached shall direct, or shall desert or leave the 
service before he shall be rejiularly discharged, if convicted thereof before the 
justices of the supreme judicial court, rrj^ he shall be subject to be fined at the 
discretion of the said court, in a sum noi'exceeding ten pounds. 

And be i% further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That if any person, 
in public or private conversation, or by any ways or means, shall dissuade 
or endeavour to prevent any military officer from performing t ie duty required 
of him by this act, or any persvin or persons, detached or ordered to march for 
tiie purpose aforesaid, from marching to the place of rendezvous, or from contin- 
uing in the service until regularly discharged, each person so offending, being con- 
victed thereof, a? aforesaid, shafl pay a fine to the use of the commonwealth, 
not exceeding FI FT Y POUND?, and shall recognize for his good behaviour for 
a term nai exceeding three years.'^^f 

I hope the reader v?i!] compare these sections with the most 
rigorous of those contained in Mr. Monroe's or Mr. Giles's 
plans. Candour will compel him to acknowledge, that the latter 
are incomparably less burdensome and oppressive than the* 
former* 

* Permanent laws of Massachnsetts, vol. I. page 314. 
f Idem, page 330. 

K k 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



The statute of Connectic^it respecting the militia, adopts tiie 
reguiatiua of the act of cuugrf ss, whereby every free able-bodied 
znan, between the ages of 18 and 45, is declared sul>ject to mili- 
tia duly. It further exempts quakers from that duty, on tlie 
payment of three doU rs and thirty cents per annum. It then 
in tsis the cai>tdin-gentral vvith power, in certain s[:ecitled 
cases,- to order out even the ii hole of the militia or military J or ce 
cj the state. I submit the very strong and expressive cjause 
to the reader : 

The captain general, or, in his absence, the next commanding olEcer of «tate, 
k hereby authorized and eir.powerfcd. as he may judge ntft^sary upon the ccccsion 
vn nn atarm^ invasiim, or 7ioiict of the oppeariiiice on cncmy^ either by .sea cr 
londj to order cut the WHOLE or any part of the military force of this state ; to 
assemble and put tlje same in warlike order ; and the same to Itcdy order ^ and em- 
ploy for the Gssi:itfince or relieving any of the inhubilants f ihii state., attached 
an enemy or 171 da^igcr therff ; and generally to issue and publish, by proper 
plafF or orderly ofScer, bueh orders as he shall judge expedient, to carry into exe- 
cution the intent and design of this act 

The militia law of New-York is equally clear and expli- 
cit — 

The commander in chief of this state may, in case of inmsion or other emer- 
gency, when he shall judge it necessary, order rut rr-p^AlSY i EOPOK TION 
OF THE MiLITlA OF THIS STATE TO MaRCH TO Al\ \ P.'KT 
THEREOF, and cGntinue as long as hs 7nay think ntcessary } and likenise moy in 
(consequence of an applicatioji of the executive of any f the United States cm r.n 
invasvm^r insurrection^ or cr? apprehension of an invasion of such date VT^ AT 
HIS DISCRETION, order AKV jNUMbEROF THE MILiTlA. to tx.ued- 
ing one third part lliei'eof TO SUCH STATE, provided that they be not ccmpel- 
led to continue on duty cut rf this side :niore tirnn ferty days at any one time ; 
that while in actual service, in consequence of being so called out, they shall re- 
ceive the same pay and rations, and be subject to the same rules and regula- 
tions as the troops of the United Stales of America. 

New Jersey has not been deScient in making similar provi- 
sion for the public safety. Her militia law declares^ 

That the commander in chief of this sta^e, for the time bein?, may, in cast 
of invasion or other emergency. WHEN HE SHALL JUDGE iT NECESSA- 
order ou\ cny prc^oi^tion of the militia oflhis state, to mr.rch lo any 
part thereof, a^id continue as long as he may think it necessary, not exceeding 
iwo months. _ . 

She imposes a heavy and ljurdensome fine on delinquents — 
a fine which the poorer classes cannot pay, and which, 
course, inevitably compels them to the service. 

* Statute laws of Connecticut, page 310. 

f La^'s of the state of New-York, vol I. page 512 

J: Patterson's laws of New- Jersey, page 44 L 



APPENDIX- S91 

Any person refusing or neglecting to perform his tour of duty, or to procure 
& substitute, shciil pay ajine of irveniij dollars for every sucii neglect or refusal 

li'any militia man stiail desert wiiiie iie is on a tour of duty, he shall be lined 
in any smn not exceeding twenty dollars tor every su^h offence ; or may be im- ^ 
prmaed for any time not excec^ding two moalhs, at the discretion of a court 
martial j and if a non-coinmissioned oifieer, he shall also be degraded and placed 
in the ranks. '-f 

I next proceed to state the law in Peiinsj^lvaiiia. — The same 
^ood sease that presided over the decision on this su'jject ia 
(he other states, is discernible liere : 

Whenever it may be necessarj' to call into actual service any part of the 
militia, incase of rebellion, or of -dcluAl or threatened invasion^ of this or any 
of the ueighboui iiig states, then U^^'t shall and may be Uaful for the governor 
to order into aciuil service, >XQ \ f\iir OP THE MiLin \, BY CLASSES, 
AS THE EXiGENCY MAY Ri^aUiRE; provided, that the part so called, 
dotli not exceed tour classes of the iiiAlitia oi any brigade. "j| 

** If any militia man shall desert while he is on a lour of duty, [^^j^ '^"- shall be 
fined thirty-two dollars for every such offence, aud be obliged to ai u'ch on the 
next tour of duty, under the same penalties a> at tirst. ll a nori-cou^missioned 
officer shall so desert, he shall be degraded and placed in the ranks j shall pay a 
fine of tairty-six dollars i and be obliged to serve auotner tour as a private. "V 

** The tiii'itia of this state wiule in tne actual service tiiereof, or of the United 
States, r^^jhall be subject to the same rules and regulations as the federal 
army.'''"- " 

The iittle state of Delaware recognizes the same principles 
—the same rights — the same duties — of which 1 have shewa 
the recognition in so many other states. 

** The governor shall have full power and authority, in case of an in* 
vasicn., rebellion,, or insurreclion within this sl-ate, [J^or any of the neigh" 
bouring states, to call into service [HJ^ suck part of the miUiia by classes, as 
to him shall seem necessary ; and in case of the absence of the governor 
of this state, on any insurrection, rebellion, or invasion, the comnmnding 
officer of each brigade is hereby authorized and directed to issue his orders 
io call out such part of the mitiiia as he may judge immtdialely necessary ?Ht 

The provisions of the militia law^ of Maryland are equally 
strong and unequivocal. 

" In all ca?!es where a militia man may be drafted to perform a tour of duty 
under the laws of this state, he shall be considered as a soldier, and 

able io all the duties m such, unless he shall furnish a substitute : and the Usute- 
pant-colonel of the regiment, or commanding officer of the extra battalion, as the 
case may be, to which he may belong, shall be the sole judges of the qualificatioa 
of said subotitute; and r)^^ may receive or reject him a,t their discrelion.''^iit 

* Idem, page 4 42. f Idem, page 4^3- 

II Pardon's Abridgment of the laws of Penijsvlvania, p .381. 
f id?m,p. 384. Idem. p. 386,' 

ft Laws of Delaware, (VViltnlngton., 1793,) p- 21 3. 
t\ Keiiy's L^ws of Alary a J, vol. il. \m, chap. a. 



S92 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



* 



If a sudden invasion sluill be made into any eounly in this state, or in casf / 
«n insurrtttim in any county, tlte comnuinding fjfficer in sucA county isl.tidj 
AUTHORISED AND REQUIRED order oi<i THE WHOLE, or suchp rt 
^ his militia as he may think nece :iary, and in si'.ch mamier as he may iJiink best, 
lor lepeiliiig j^uch iuvaFion, cr tup^iess^iiig Fuch ilJ^u^Ie^tlon ; and shah Cni! on 
the coiijuianding oificert- of n-ginieiits in the adjacent counties, for such aid as he 
ma}' think necessary j 7vho shall forihnith in like manner furnith the sar»e."| 

By the militia law of the state of Georgia, every male citi- 
zen, who has resided \>ithiii the stale ior ten daiji^., \i \\\e 
proper age, is sii! ject to perform military duty.§ This carries 
the right of society to coerce llie citizen to military duty iu 
|)ublic defence, to tiie u;most extent. 

The duty of the g:overnor5 in the case of insnrrection or in- 
vasion, is as ex[dicitiy j nd unequivocally stated in the miiilia 
law of Georgia, as in the laws aheadj^ quoted : — 

** His excelleiicy the governor is hereby empowered to assemble and 
embody such pari (f the miliiia of the state as he may frem time to time 
ihihk ntcessary, to recti any invasion, insarreclicyi, or rtttllion, v, hich 
loay hap]. en withifi the same, and to order such ofiiccrs to coninoand the 
^aid miiilia as he may see lit/'H 

Kentficky lias been equally mindful of the great duty of 
making adequate provision for the public safety, with her sister 

slates : 

Every nhh-loditc male citizen, of this or any of the United States, reside 
h}g in this claie, uho is cf the agt cf eigfitttn and under fcrty-five, shall be 
enrolled by the couinianding officer of the cora|.ar.y within whose bounds 
lie may reside."** 

flic governor ^hall have pouer to call forth such parts cf the miliiia as 
he may judge necessary, in time if war, iniasion, cr insurrcclion, or when 
the danger may be such that the public safety shall requiie it. 

The miliiia ichtii in the service of Urn folate, shall ht governtdby tJie ar- 
iicles of war, which shall be in force in the ccniinental arm</.''* 

By the law of Rhode IsLind, like the others 1 have quoted, 
the militia, when in nctual service, are regarded as soldiers, and 
subject to martial iaw — 

** Whenever the military force of this state, or any part thereof, shall 
be called into actual service, (Tr' it ^hall he subject to the ariicles cficar, 
prescribed by congress for the government of the troops of the U nited 
States."t 

:|: Ibid 5 Digest of Laws of Georgia, page 460. 
IT Idem, page 48.5. 

* * Toiilmin's Laws of Kentucky, p. 78. 

* Idem. p. 80. ' . 

I Public Laws of the State of Rhode island and Providence Fiaulat.ons. F/ov- 

decce, 1798. Page 440. 



APPENDIX. 



395 



Tliese are, as I have already observed, ail the states wirose 
statute laws I have beea able to procure. They are, I presume, 
atleqiiate to the purpose. It is not to be doubted j that simiiar 
provisions exist in ail the oiiiers^ 

CHAPTER LXVII. 

Power of Conscress io call out the Militia, The usual mcde of 
drafting oppressive, unequal, and unjust. 

My second position is, " that the power of congress to call 
forth, and order the em[)Ioyraent of, the militia, is as clearJy es- 
tabli^ied as any other power vested in that body." 

The general defence of the nation is confided to congress. — - 
This is their incumbpnt duty. The means and power to per- 
form this duty are vested in tlieni by the constitution. Tiiey 
are t.uthorised and empo^vered 

*' To raise and support armies.'* 

The exercise of this power has not been, nor can it b*, called 
in question. They are further authorised and emrjowered— 

To provide for calling forth the mililia to execvle the laws of the union / 
suppress imurreciicns ; and repel invasions.^^ 

I beg the reader will carefully examine this clause over and 
over. It re€|iiires the most serious and sober reflection. Here 
is a clear, explicit and most unequivocal power given to the 
general government by the constitution of the United States, 
to ci!l forth the militia in three specitied cases. One is to re- 
pel invasion,'''^ The country was " invaded,-'' during the last 
v?ar. jVnd yet every attempt to carry this power into opera- 
lion, in the mode most efficient and least burdensome, was op- 
posed and defeated by men of high standing, great talents, and 
professing a sacred regard to the honour and interests of their 
country ! ! ! And the whole of the opposition rested on the ab- 
surd, the untenable ground of the measure being unconstiUi' 
tionciy And this wretched pretext was blindly admitted and 
defended by a large portion of our citizens ! It will be difficult 
for posterity to give credence to the existence of su«h mUera- 
ble folly on the part of their ancestors, who had nearly f)irt om 
record the modest declaration, that they were the most enlighl- 
eaed Eation on the surface of the globe* 



394 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

As a specimen of the declamation used on this siihject, T an- 
nex a short extract from a speech delivered by Cyrus King, 
member of the house of representatives of tlie United StateS; 
from the state of Massachusetts. 

If what I have urged, will not induce yon to arrest tlie progress of tlils bill, 
I appeal to you, I be-eftch yon, as friends to hmnanity, to spare the tears v.diich 
the passage of this bill will cause to flow ! I appeal to you as fathers, by every 
endearing tie which binds you to your children, not to deprive the aged parent of 
the child of his youth ! the support and solace of his declining years ! lest you 
bring his grey hair* with sorrow to the grave \ I eiitrtat yiu tcmake ike case 
your own ! suppose a darling child ! on only son snitched from you by the scourge 
of war! in the langvage of grirf and of nature^ you would exclaim: rvould i» 
God I had died fer thee, O Absalom, my son ! my son 

This was the miserable rant by -svhich our fathers and our 
mothers — our wives and our cliildren — our towns and our cities 
were deprived of protection, and, but for the peace, would have 
been delivered defenceless to the enemy ! 

Mr. Miller, of New-York, was equally eloquent in his denun- 
ciation of this sj^stem. I lay before the reader a specimen of 
the cogent and convincing arguments he used : — 

I object, s/V, to the v:hoie system offeree and coercion ; and contend thai 
tinder tki^ constiiution you hare no right to ra^se armies ejcej/l by voluntary 
cnUsir.ient ; and further , that if you had tlie rights it would not be discreet to 
exercise itJ*^ 

*' The plan which gentlemen wish adopted is con^cri} tion ! Thfy call it class^i- 
Jication and penalty — cla salification a7id draft — sir, there is poison in the disk : gar- 
nish it as you please, there is poir-on stil?. Vou call it classification ! I stickle 
not for n aines — ** a rose by any other name would smel) as sweet." Is this clnss- 
ideation P " Disguise thyself as tnou wilt, slaver)^, gtill tliou srt a bitter draft.*'' 
The times demand that things should be called by their right names this is 

conscription, and with features, more iiideous, than are to be found in t'iC explo- 
ded system of our unfortunate cousin of Elba, 

Ey this system the people of these United States, will be instantly ^nd forcibly 
transformed into soldiers — the ordinary pur^nits of life must be abandoned, foi- ih<i 
perils and vexations of a camp ! Our pe?ceful occupation? must be forsaken. The 
merchant must quit his counting house ;, the farmer his plough ; the mechanic his 
work shop; the profesi^ional man his pursuits— all, all must become soldiers !~ 
Our soiis and our brothers, tho?;e who are to be the future men" o^" this coun- 
try, instead of laying the foundation for future usefulness, niu^t be subjected to 
the moral and physical evils of a camp. All the habits of dom.estic life must be 
5iDnihilated, and all its endearments outraged or disregarded. The husband 
aiust be torn from his wife and children, and the child forcibly separated from 
society and protection of hi- parents. 1 beseech gentlemen to pause before they 
venture upon a system like this. 

Thi:J plan violaUs the consHtuticn of your country ; it invades the rights of 
the state governments; it is a direct infringement of their sovereignty ; it con- 
centrates all power in the general governm.ent, and deprives the states of their 
** necessary fecurity It does away all claim to personal freedom j it is a dar- 
ing aUem.pt tipon the rights and liberties of this people. 

Armies are the forces of the United States, witli which they are 16 carry (5ft 
their wars ; and are subject to their exclusive jorisdict ion and controul. But the 
^iiiUiia are th& state troops^ rvhich congrm have no pow&r io raise ! ! / They are a 



APPENDIX. 



395 



force existing, known and acknowledged at the time of the adoption of this con- 
stitution j o^-ting without the aid or concurrence of the general governn.ent. 
The general pjwf.r over the militia resides in the states ; a particular authji ity for 
objects deiiued, was carved out of that general power, and granted to the 
Uaited States/' 

When the reader has attentively perused all this rhapsody, 
aad is almost coavinced uf tlse frightful despotism which \vas 
pi*e})ririn2: to swallow up our freedom and happiueis, in order to 
caliii the ebLdlttions of his imlignation — to restore Ids tian- 
qalliity — he has only to read two lines of the constitulioa grant- 
in;; the pow-er, and dictating the diity of the general govera- 
nieiit, to call forth the miliiia, to repd invasion.'''' Let him 
then ascertain the fact, that the country v\as actually invaded dii 
the verv lime w hen Mr. Miller so confidentlv in the T ee of the 
constitution, dared to assert that the militia are the state 
troops, which congress have nopojvcr to raise,'''' V/hen he lias 
proceeded thus far, he w ill soon be convinced that all the long, 
declamatory and inflammatory s})eeches on this subject, wldcli 
occupied so many w eeks of the time of congress, were mere 
" sound and fury. ^ 

To return. Tiie constitution farther authorises the gene- 
government — 

" To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia: and 
for governing such pari of them as may be employed in the service of the Uni- 
(ed States:^ 

This last power is merely limited and qualified by the reser- 
vation to the several states to the right of appointing the officers, 
and of training the men. The limitation is in these w ords : 

Reserving to the slates respectively the appointment of the officers, and the 
feuthority of training the militia, according to the discipline proposed by con- 
gress." 

A calm and candid review of these clear delegations of pow- " 
er, cannot fail to result in a conviction, that in ali cases of ob- 
structions to the laws — of insurrection — or invasion — the right, 
the power, and the duty of congress, to order out the militia, is 
as clear a right, power, nnd duty, as ever were conveyed or or- 
dained by any instrument, public or [jrivate. It follows, that 
the attempt to defeat tliis grant of power, was anti- federal and 
factious, and had a tendencj^ to destroy the government. 

I SHALL now proceed to prove my third point, ' that the 
mode of drafting the militia prescribed by the militia laws ot 
the several states, is oppressive, unequal and unjust." 

In nearly all the states, as we have seen, the governor is em- 
powered, in certain specitied cases, to call the miiitia into ser- 



3^6 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

vice, in such narnbers and propoi lions as he may judge proper. 
He possesses p'ten^ry discretionary j-owers. He may raise the 
%vhoie in tluee or four counties, or he may divide them equally 
among all the counties in the state. 

This discretionary po-ver is highly exceptionable on tiie 
ground of favouritism, and is in direct hostility with tiie gene- 
ral spirit of ail our institutions, which universally def:ne duties 
and limit powers with great precision. It will not, it cannot 
be denied, that it is liable to considerable abuse. 

But 1 shall not consider the danger of its abuse. The discus- 
sion of ihls objection, great and powerful as it is, does not come 
^vithin my present plan. I shall suppose the power exercised 
with sound judgment and strict impartiality, so far cs the latter 
requisite is compatible with the present system. It is still lia- 
ble to the most serious and solid objections. It is radically and 
incurably defective. Its operation is unjust, unequal, and op- 
pressive. Let us examine hijw it is carried into operation. 

Supposing there are ten counties in a state, each containing 
10^000 militia — and that the presence of an invading foe indu- 
ces the president to make a call upon the governor for a draft 
of 5,000 men. It is obvious, that the most equitable and impar- 
tial mode of drafting them, according to the present miserable 
system, w ill be, to make a requisition of 500 out of each eeim- 
ty. But the call is generally made on two or three neiirhbour- 
hoods, as near to the place of danger as possible, while the re- 
inainder of the state is wholly exempt. The extreme o['r;res- 
$ion and injustice of this mode is too palpable to require enforce- 
ment. And it is impossible to remove the radical injustice of 
this plan ; for in whatever w ay they are drawn, the burden, the 
lisk of health and life, the sacrifice of business, the ext enses of 
a camp, and «11 the other disadvantages of military duty, which 
©ught to be borne or paid for equally by 100,000 persons, falls 
exclusively on 5,000. It is impossible for the human mind to 
conceive of any system more unequal, more unjust, more ab- 
surd, or more contemptible. Five thousand citizens bear all 
the burden of military service, for the protection of 95,000, who 
neither run risk, incur expenses, nor suffer any inconvefl- 
ience ! 

It is an arduous task to impress the public mind w ith a cor- 
rect sense of the folly or absurdity of laws or customs, which 
have grown rviththe grorvM^ of society. This renders it diffi- 
cult, in all countries, to scain a fair or patient hearing for argu*- 
ments a,2:ainst the established order of things, however contrary 
to reason, common sense, or common j igtice. But let us in or- 
der to display the injustice of this wretched principle, extend it 



APPENDIX. 



357 



to the affair of taxation. This will render it more palpable and 
striking. Suppose a law were passed to otjli2:e 5,000 men to 
pay all the taxes of 95,000 others, who were themsMves to be 
totally exempt froiii taxation! What an uproar would it not ex 
cite ! The ciamour would be loud and 2;eneral with the parties 
that sutiered the injustice, wha would by force resist the opera- 
tio i of it. Yet the injustice of sach a law is far inferior to thai 
of the existing iniliti:^ system to which we su'>mit without mur- 
mur, but were of late senselessly ready to rise in insurrection, 
to prevent any m9iLoration )fs jch vile oppression ! I say infe- 
rior ; beca,use the burden of military service is far more op- 
pressive than I he burden of taxation. if this do not prove the 
})ro;»riety, truth, and juslice of our claim to the the title of the 
most p}ili«:htened nation in the world," 1 am afraid it will never 
be estabiished. 

CHAPTER LXVITL 

Iiufficimcy of militia n'enrraUy. Extravazanthj expensive.-^ 
G'?n ral fV M^hingtoa^s testimony on ihe subject full and com- 
plele. 

My fourth position is, that " the force thus drafted is gen- 
erally uieffioient, uv\ r jino'is'y exi^ensive." 

At prosent, the milUia are collected together in a disorderly 
and !«Te«;ulaf m inner. The materials are as discordant md in- 
coherent as the mind can conceive. They are imacciistomed 
to discipline — they h tve very loose ideas on the subject of sub- 
ordination. They have little experipnce — less military skill 
— Utile con^dence in themselves — little in their omcers — and 
their oificers are not so void of justice as to lavish any large 
portion of confidence on them."^ 

Suppose them, thus assembled, thus officered, thus qualified 
—to encounter a disciplined foe of half their numbers, {TT" in 

place any dependence on militia, is assuredly resting upon a broken ^tirff 
-^m^nlw-it dragged from the tender scenes of domestic life — anaccustoiued to the 
din of arms — totally unacquainted with every kind of military skill j which be- 
ing followed by a want of confidence in theuiielve?. wlieu opposed to troops reg- 
ularly trained, disciplined, and appointed, superior in knowledge and ?iiperior in 
arin-^ makes them timid and ready to fly from their own phadow? — besides the 
sudden change in their manner of living, (particularly in tlse todo:iuor) hn'nirp on 
sickness in miny, impatience in all, and such an unconquerable desire rj/ returning 
i) their re^peclive homes, that it not only produces skaraef ul and scandalous dtser- 
Uons among tk-zmKlves, but infuses ihe like spirit into others/-^ General Washing- 
ten's letters, Loodoa edition, vol. I. page 270. 



398 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



tJie open field. And we must take the open field into our calcu- 
lation. Lamentable would be the issue. On the one side 
would be a band of hardened desperadoes, inured to slaughter — 
reposing full reliance in their officers — and marching forward 
with that confidence in themselves, which is the hari;inger arid 
presa<2;eof victory. On the other, men utterly undisciplined 
— distrusting e f.ch other, and distrusting themselves — and un- 
der officers cl;Osen, in most eases, not for their militciry taknts 
and endoumeots, but for companionable qualities, which, how- 
ever agreeable in the social circle, are of no avail in the tent- 
ed field. 

The mind sickens at the conteLiplation of the result. No- 
thing short of a miracle, can render it |>ros}.erous to ihe mili- 
tia. The chances are immensely against llum. The} niay 
be said literally to be led to slaughter — the result being gener- 
ally a most frightful carnage. 

There is a furth.er consideration, which greatly enhances the 
horror of this contemplation. The materials of the two hos- 
tile bodies are as different as can le conceived. On one side 
are to be seen, in the ranks, some of the most inv aluable of our 
citizens, men with large families, whose whole future hap|»ines8 
^eperids on their preservation — future Washingtons, or Frank- 
lins, or Liviucrstons, or Dickinsons. On the other, a congeries 
of the refuse of society in al! pf:rts of Europe. What a con- 
trast ! It is in fact a game of hazard, at which guineas are 
staked against cents — and at which it is impossible ever to e- 
qualise the stakes. 

That some of the fiest men in the world are destitute of per- 
sonal courage — and that some of the worst are abundantly sup- 
plied with it, is well known to every man who has even Lut 
superficially reflected on human nature. Courage is a consti- 
tutional quality, w hich, w hen not imparted by nature, can hard- 
ly ever be acquired. And it therefore follows, that in these 
comnuisory embody ings of militia, there will be often found 
men who, however useful they may be in civil life, are w holly 
unsuitable for the camp. Inat}ility to pay for a substitute, or a 
false shame, may lead many tf these men to obey the summons 
to the field. But when the clangour of arms sounds, nature, 
-whose voice has been disregarded, asserts Iier swav. Ten men 
of this description may, by spreading a panic, cause the defeat 
of an entire army. 

In political economy, as in all other sciences, it may be laid 
down as an incontrovertible maxim, that whenever there is a 
strong and striking opposition between fact and theory, the lai* 



APPENDIX. 



30S 



ter is a fallacious guide, which canaot fail to k ad its votaries 
asi: vv Tiieorics supported by facts, rarely mislead. 

The American revolution is fraught with f^cts on the sub- 
ject of the militia, which hold out the most unerring admoni- 
tions. 

The letters of General Washington to congress are replete 
with complaints of the ruinous results, and of the inefficiency, 
of '-he miiitici system of the United States. They fully prove, 
moreover, that the cost of militia service is extravagantly high 
— and that a de;iendence on militia for regular or continued 
service, is attended with the utmost danger. 

There is no authority on any subject whatever, more com- 
manding, or more decisive, than that of General Washing ton^ 
upon militia defence. In no nation was it ever, as far as I 
kno'vv, more fully and corai>!etely essayed, than in the United 
States, during the war that eventuated in the acknowledgment 
of iheir independence. No man, therefore, ever had a fairer 
opportunity of judging on this topic — and there is no man on 
whose judgment more relirtace could be placed. 

As this is a subject of vital importance to this nation — as our 
happiness, and that of our posterity, as well as the safety and 
independence of the counliy, may., and probably will depend 
upon a correct system of defence, I have judged it proper to 
produce the most ample display of the generates experience on 
the subject. 

An examination of the dates will shew that the evils com- 
menced with the very d-.wu of the revolution. For the first 
complaint of the general is contained in a letter, dated July 10, 
1773, not two months after the battle of Lexington. 

July lOih, 177^. 

All tbe 2:er;pral ofScers agree, thiit no dependeyice can he put on iht miUHe^ 
for a continuance in camp^ or regularity end discipline during the short time the^f 
may s<?i3/."* 

July\4tA, 1775. 

*' From snvae authentic apd later advices the state of the r uHsterial troop?, 
-and theg: eM iyiconvemence <f calling on the militia, in the midtt af harvest^ I bave 
^eea induced for trie present to waive it."f 

Ftbruary 9th. 1776. 
** Though 1 am sensible that we never have, since that peri >d. been able to act 
upon the offensive, a;. d at time? no' in a condition to defend, yet the cost of 
marching home one set of men— bringing in another — the.hzvoc and nnde occasion- 
ed hy the first — th% repairs necfs^ory for the second — with a thousvnd incidental 
chcirgts and inconveniences which have arisen, and which it is scarcely possible 

* Oflcial Letters to the honourable the American Congress, written during the 
wa^' between the United Stat s and Great Britaia, by tiis excellency Geaer^ 
Wa^^ n rfon. LondoQ, 1795 : yol. I. p. 7. 

f Idem, page 9. - _ 



400 



/ 

THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



either to recollect or uepcribe— amount to near as much as the keeping up a res 
pectable body rf troops ike nholt iime^ ready for any emergency, would have dorxf. 
To bring men v^eli acquainted witii ti.e duties of a soldier, requirei; tiiiie. 'Vo 
hung them urder proper discipline srd subcrdiDation, not only rtquireF time, 
hut is a \\ork of great difficulty ■ and ia Xhu army, wheie there is i^o hltle dis- 
tinction between the officers and soldiers, requires an uncommon degiee of atten- 
tion.''* 

" Again, nien of a day'^s starding vrill not look forward : and frcm experience 
we find, that, as the time approaches for their di'charge. ihey grow cartlt:s of their 
arms, ammunition^ camp utensils^ Ssc. Nay, even the barracks tlieniseives have 
felt uncommon marks of wanton depredation, and lay us under fresh trouble r nd 
additional expense in providing for every fre««h ^et, wiien w e tind it next to in po£- 
«ible to procure fuch articles as are absolutely necessary in the f rft irj-:ancc. — 
To tills may be added the seasoning which new recrmt? n/i:st have to a c amp, and 
the loss consequent thereupon. But tiiis is rot all— f];^ men, cngagrd ioi a 
short limited time only, have the officers too much in ti.trii power ; for, lo obtniu 
a degree of popularity, in order to induce a second enlistment a kind of iv.mil- 
iarity takes place, which brings on a relaxation of discipline, unlicenfced fuiiougha 
and other indulgences, incompatible with order and good goveroment 

" There are yet but few companies of the militia come in This delay 

will, 1 am much afraid, frustrate the intention of their being caiitd upon, as the 
season is slipping fast away wheD they may be of service."^ 

Jpril 4th, 1776. 

I heartily wish the money had arrived sooner, tliat the roiiitia njiglii have 
been paid as soon as their time of service expired. The disappointment has giv- 
en them great uneasiness, and they ore gone home much dissati'fi€d.^''\\ 

I would also mention to congress, that the miiitia reginu nts which were last 
called upon, in making up their abstracts, charged pay — the officers, from the 
time they received orders to raise companies — ai.d the privates, from iht t»me 
they respectively engaged to come or were called upon, though they did not 
march for a considerable time after — some not within three, four, to twentj days, 
during all Avhich they remained at home about their own private atfairs, vitiiout 
doing any thing else tlian " preparing for the march," as they say, by way of 
plea. "If 

July 17 /A, 1776. 

*' The Connecticut light-horse, mentioned in my letter of the Hth. notwith- 
standing their then promis-e to continue here for the defence of i) is place, are 
DOW discharged, and are about to return home — hpving peremptorily refused all 
kind ff fatigue duty, or (.V en to mount guard, claiming exfmption as troopers. — 
Though their assistance is much needed, and might be of essential service lii case 
of an attack, yet I judged it advisable, on their -application and claim of ?uch in- 
dulgence, to discharge them ; as granting theri wouM set an example to others, 
and nsigbt produce many ill consequences. I'he m>iriberof men included in the 
last return, by this is lessened about five hundred."** 

August 1776. 

They [the British] mean to procrastinate their opeiations for some time, 
trusting thn^ Q;;^ the militia which b.ave come to ou - succour will soon become 
tired and retuiii home, as is but too usual with them." 

AugusU \^Vn, 1775. 
Governor Trumbull, in a letter of the I3th. advises me th.it Ward's regiment, 
in the service of the states, was on th^ marcJi to this army, and thai h*^' and hia 
ocuncil of safety had in the whole ordered Jourtecn militia regiments to reiifurce 
us. Three of them have arrived, and amount to about a thousand and twenty 



* Idem, page 87. f Idem, page 88. X W^m, page 91. 

il Idem, f age 118. ^ Ideni, page 12^. ** Idem, page 193. 



APPENDIX. 



liitii. Wben the whole come in, we shall be oq a much more respectable fooling 
than we have beeu ; but I greatly fear, if the enemy defer their attempt for any 
eoiisiderable time, they will be extremely impatitni to return home; and if they 
<Jwuld. we shall be reduced to distress again.''* 

September 2d, 1776. 

*• The militia, instead of caliin;; forth their utmost efforts to a brave and manly 
opposition in ordi^r to repair our losses, are dismayed, intrctctable and impati«^nt 
to return Great numbers of them have gone off— in some instances, almo-^t by 
whoie regiments, by half ones, and by companies at a time. This circumstance 
of i»:se]f independent of others, wlien fronted dy a well appointed enemy, supe- 
rior in number to our whole collected force, would be sufficiently disagreeable — 
but, ".vhen their example has infected another part of the army — when tlieir want 
of discipline, and refusal of almost every kind of restraint and governraeut, havo- 
r;rorluc 'd a like conduct, but too common to the whole, and an eutirt^ disre^rard 
of ihat order and subordination necessary to the well doing of an army, and 
wliich had been inculcated before, as well as the nature of our military esiablish- 
i^ents would admit of — our condition is still more alarming ; and witii tiie deepest 
r^M'-ern I am obliged to confess my want of confidence in the generality of the 
troops. 

\\\ these circumstances fully confirm tlie opinion I ever entertained and 
which I more than once in my letters took the liberty of mentioning to congiress, 
tha: no d'^pcndence could be put on miiitia, or other tro")p> than ti)o?e enlisted 
and embodied for a loniier period than our re:5ulatious heretofore have prescribed. 
1 am pet suaded. an*J a?- fully confirmed as 1 am of an}- one fact that has happened, 
'lilt our liberties must of necessity be greatly hazarded, if nor entirely lost, iftheir 
de'ence is J eft to any but a permanent standing army — I mean one to exist curing; 
the war. IVor wcuid the expense incdent to the support of such a body of 
troops as would be com.pet nt to almost every exigency, far exceed tliat which is 
daily incurred by calling in succour, and new enlistments, which, when eflected, 
iire not attended with any oood consequences. Men who have been free, and 
subject to no control, cannot be reduced to order in an instunt ; and the privi- 
Jrjres and exemptions they claim and will have, influence the conduct of others ; 
and tne aid derived from them is nearly counterbalanced by the disorder, iri egu- 
larity, and confusion, they occasion. "f 

September 4tk^ 1776. 
" The militia, under various pretences, of sickness, &.c. are daily diminishing ; 
e.nd ia a little time, I am persuaded, their number will be very inconsiderable "| 

Sepfember Sth. 1776. 
** The militia from Connecticut is reduced from 60G9 to 2000, and in a few 
days will be merely nominal. The arrival of some Maryland troops, 6lc from 
the flying cauip, has in a great degree supplied the loss of men : but the aramuBi- 
lion they have carried away will be a loss sensibly felt The impulse for going 
home was so irresistible, it answered no purpose to oppose it Though I would 
not discharge, 1 have been obliged t« acquiesce ; and it affords one more meian» 
eholy proof, how delusive such dependencies are."^ 

September 20lh, 1775. 
*' It is a melancholy and painful consideration to those who are concerned in 
the work, and have the command, to be forming armies constantly, and to be left 
>>y troops just when they begin to deserve the name, or perhaps at a moment when 
an important blow is expected. "|] 

September 2Uh, 1776. 
The thirteen militia regiments from Connecticut being reduced to a little mote 
ihan 700 men, rank and file, fit for duty, I have thought proper to discharge the 

^'lole, to save the states the immense charge that would arise for officers' pliy. 

There are many militia too, that have just corns in, and on their way from that 
rtate, none of whom are provided with a tent, or a single camp utensil. Tiiig 
This distresses me beyond measure.'^T 

X Idem, page 246. 
T Idem, page 267. 



* J'!om, p^ge 233. f Idem, page 241. 

^ Idem, page 255. || Idem, page 2G5. 



402 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



, . , , September 2ith, KTG. 

*' Again : men await on>ed to unbounded freedom and no control, cannot brook 
the restraint T\ nicu is indispensably necessaiy to the good order and go\erLD.ent 
of an arniv} witlicut which licentiousness and every kind of disorder reigu To 
bring n;en to a proper degree of subordination is not the work of a day, a n ontii 
or even a year, and unhappiiy for us and the cause we are engaged in, the iitt;e 
(ii^cipiitit' I have been laboring to establish in the army under my immediate toiu- 
raand is in a mannei done away by having such a mixture of ^roops as have been 
called togetlicr within these few months.'"* 

''Relaxed and unfit as our ruies aiid regulations of war are for the government 

of an army, the militia (those properly so called, for of these we have tivo sorts 

the six months' men, and those s» nt in for temporary aid) do not think tliemselvcs 
f-uhject to thviu, and therefore take liberties the soldier is punished for. 1 iiis 
creates jealousy ^ jealousy begets disbatisfaction j and th.ese by di grecs ripen into 
mutiny > keeping the w hole army in a c ufused and disordered state — renderin*^ 
the time of those w ho wi h to see regularity and good ordei prevail, more uu- 
liappy than wo. ds can describe. Besides this, such repealtd cnai.gt^ take place, 
that all asrangcment is set at nought, and tlie constauit fiuctuation of tilings de- 
ranges every plan as fast as adopted 'i !ie>e, sir, congress may be assured are 
but a small part of the inconveniences which might be enumerated, a;.d attributed 
to militia ;. but there is one that merits particular altention, and tiiat is expense, 

CeKTALN 1 AM, THAT IT WOULD BE CHEAPER TO KEEP FIFTY OR A HUNDRED THOU- 
SAND IN CONSTANT FAY. THAN TO DEFEND UION HALF THE NUMBER, AND SUPPLV 

THE CT'iER HALF OCCASIONALLY BY .viLiTiA Thc iliiie the latter are in pay before 
and after they are in camp assembling and marching — the waste of amuiuniuon, 
ih€ conMimptioD of stores, which, in spile of every resoiution or i^^ruisftion of 
congress, they must be furnished with or sent home, added to ottier incicit Dtal ex- 
penses cocseqijcnt upon their con ing aUid conduct in camp — surpasses all idea, 
and destroys every kind of regularity and economy which you couid estabiisli 
among- fixed and ijeLU-ar troops, end vvil*. ii; mj' opinion, prove (if the scheme i< 
adhered to) THE RUIP.' Oi OLE CAUSE ^'f 

The jealousies of a standing army, and the evils, to be apprehended from one, 
are remote j aiid, in my judgment, situalt d and tircuuistanced as we are, not at 
idi to be dreaded : but the consequence of wanting one, according to my ideas, 
formed from the present view of things, is certain and inevi'abie ruin. r>;^ For 
if I was calitd upon to declare upon oath, whtther the militia have bten most 
serviceable or hunful, upon the wiioie, 1 should subscribe tu the latter. J do noi 
mean by this, however, loarridgn the conduct of congress : in so doing, 1 should 
tiqnally condemn my own measures, if I did not my judgmeiit: but experience, 
which is the best criterion to work by, so fully, c";early, and decisively reprobates 
the practice of tiusting to muitia, that ISO MAPs^ V> BO REGaRD's ORLER, 
JIEGULARITV, AIND ECONOMY, OR HAS ANV REGARD FOR HiS 
HOrsOa, CHARACTER, OR PEACE OF MIND. WlEL RISK THEM 
UFON THIS ISSUE. xArrarmy formed by good officers moves like clock-work ; 
but tiiere is no situation on earth less enviable, nor more distressing, than that of 
a person who is at the head of troops who are regardless of order and discipline, 
and wlio are unprovided with almost every necessary, in a word,.the difEculties 
which have for ever surrounded me since I have been in the service, and kept my 
mind constantly upon the stretch — the wounds which my feelings (as an officer} 
have received, by a thousand things which have happened contrary to my expect- 
atiens and wishes, added to a conjciousness of inability to govern an army com- 
posed of such discordant parts, and under such a variety of intricate and per- 
clexing cirajmstances, induce not only a belief, but a thorough conviction in my 
Blind, that it will be impossible (unless there is a thorough ccange in our military 
system) for me to conduct matters in such a manner as to give satisfaction to the 
public, which is all the recompense I aim at, or ever wished for.*'t 



^ Ideir, page 271. t psge 272. j IdeiD, page 273. 



APPENDIX- 



403 



ScpUmber 30, ITTG. 
By a letter received from the committee of safety in the state of Newiiamp- 
.lireTl 9nd a thoa>and of tiieir militia were about to march the 24ta ul.imo, to 
eiiiforce t:iis army, ia consequence of t!ie requisition of congress. Previous to 
their marcii, general Ward writes me, he was obliged to famish thena with live 
hundred pounds of powder, and a thousand pouudj of musket ball ; and 1 have 
little reason to expect that they are better provided with other articles than they 
were with ummuaition. In th'is case, thVy \TiIl only add to our present distress, 
whv'u is airea.iv tar too ^r?at, and h?ccme disgusted with f ae service, THOUGH 
THH TIME TREY WERE ENGAGED FOR IS ONLY TILL THE FIRST 
Oc DECEMBER— this will injure their eiiiibtiug for a longei^time, if not wholly 
prevent it 

October 4, 1776. 

*' Upon the present p'an I plalniy foresee an intervention of time between the 
oM and new armv, which must be filled up with mihtia (if to be had) WITH 
WHIM NO M (N, ^VHO HAS ANY REGARD FOR HIS RE^^UTATlON, 
CAN UNDE.^TaKE to BE ANSWERABLE FORCONSEUUENCES.'H 

Ochber 31, 177G. 

*' Our army fs decreasing fa=;t. Several gentlemen who have come to camp 
.vithin a few days have observed large numbers of militia returning home on tiie 
:]itF;irent roads. "| 

November 9, 1776. 

I have little or no reason to e\'pect that the militia now here will remain a 
day longer than the time they tirst engaged for. I have recommended titeir stay, 
and requeited it in general orders Gen. Lincoln and the Alasaachu'^etts co ii- 
raissiouers are using their interest with those from that state But as far a? I can 
uJge, we cannot rely upoa tiieir staying. 

1 have no as.sarances thatjnore than a very few of the troops composing the 
flying camp will remain after the tim.e of their engagement is out — so far from it, 
t am told that some of general Ewing's brigade who stand engaged to the first of 
January are now going away."$ 

December 1, 1773. 

" The enemy are fast approaching — some of them are now in sight. All the 
men of tiie Jersey flying camp under general Heard being applied to have refused 
to continue longer in service. '-jj 

^ Trent m, Dec. 3, 1773. 
*' I look oat earnestly for the reinforcements from Philadelphia 1 am in hopes 
that if we can draw a good head of men together it will give spirits to the militia 
of this state, who have as yet afforded me little or no assistance — cor can 1 find 
they are likely to do mach."^ 

TreJiton, December oth^ 1776. 
*^ Sorry 1 am to observe, however, that the frequent calls upon the militia of 
thi? state, the want of exertion in the principal gentlemen of the country, or a fa- 
tal supineness and insensibility of danger till it is too late to prevent an evil that 
was not only foreseen, but foretold, have been the causes of our late disgraces. 

if the mi ilia of this state had stepped forth in season, (and timely notice they 
had) we might have prevented the enemy's crossing the Hackinsac, altnough with- 
out some previous notice of the time and place, it was impossible to have done 
this at the North river. 

" At Hackinsac our force was insufficient, because a part was Eiizabf-ithto^a, Am- 
boy, and Brunswick, guarding a coast wliich I thought mo=t exoose l to dan^-er ; 
and at Brunswick, because 1 was disappointed in my expectations or' militia, and 
because on the day of the eneaiy's approach (and probably the occa-ion of il) the 
time of the Jersey and Maryland brigades' service expired ; NE ITHER 0^ 
WHICH WOULD CONSENT TO STAY AN HOUR LONGER. 

* Idem, page 279. f Idem, pase 2S2. t Idem, page 301. 

; Idem, page 324. || Idem, page 323. t Idem', page aSi). 



THE OLIYE BRANCH. 



*' These, amcng ten thcusaiid other instances, might be adduced to shew Ike 
aisadrantages of short eciistments, and the little dependence upon militia in timeg 
of real danger. 

Mv fii s^t ^hh is that Con^rre^ may be convinced f)f the impropriety of rely- 
kg upon the militia, and of the necessity of raising a larger standing army than 
that thfy have vr;t(;d. The saving in the article.^ of stores, provisioli?, and in a 
thousand other things, by having nothing to do with militia, unless in case^ of ex- 
traordinary exigency, and sucii as could not be expected in the common course of 
events, would amp^y support a large armv, wiiicb. we.l ofScered >T0"^d be daily 
impicving, InsieLd of CO^'TI.NUING A DESTRUCTIVE, EXPE^'6}VE, 
and £)iS'JiiDER.LY MOB. I am clear in opinion, that if 40.000 men had beea 
Jiept ia constant pa> since the hrst commencement of hostilities and the militia 
liad beeD excused doing duty during tiiat period, the continent would have saved 
iiioaey. Vs hco J lefltct on tiie losses we nave sustai.K^d for want of 5[ood troops, 
^he certainty cf this is placed beyond a doubt in my mind. In such case, tlie mC 
ilih, who iiave been liarrossed and tired by repeated calls upon tl.' m (^ml farm- 
ing and manufactures in a manner suspenaed) would upon any pressing emer?( ucy 
have run witu alacrity to arms ; whereas the cry no#'is, *• thf v may as well be 
ruined in one way as another," and with diSculty they ar'- cblainod' I meniion 
these tinng-s, tosliew, that, in xiiy opinion, if a^y depf udej:ce^ is placed aooD niili- 
tia another year, congress will be deceived. U'hen danger is a little removed 

them, tney will not tm n oat at all. When it comes {}ome to tKem, the well 
^iTected, instead of Syiog lo anus to defend themselves, are busily employed in 
yemfrvicg l!:eir familicf- and effect--— whilst the cisaiFected are concertiu^' iiieas- 
r-res to njake tiieir submission and spread ten oi: and dismsy all around, to induce 
w'hers to follow tne example.— Daily experience and abundant proofs warrant 
:'-\z itki'oiuiation."* 

..^ . , ... December 16th, [^'.Q. 

T-bai the rnilltia -ire not to ha depended orj, or aid expected from taem hut 
i cases of the most pressing npcessitj", is not to be doubted. The first of the:-e 
propositioiis is unquestionsbie : and fatal experience has g'vc-n ! er Soucliou to 
the truth of the latter. Indeed their lethargy of late and backwardness to tu' n 
out at this alaruiiag crisis seem to justify an apprehension that nothing can bring: 
them from their homes. For want of their a^sistance. a large part of Jersey has 
been exposed to ravage and to plunder; nor do I know that Pennsylvania would 
share a better fate, could general Howe efiect a passage across the Delaware with 
a respectable force. These considerations have induced me to wish that no reli- 
an.e except such as may arise from necessity should ever be liad on them again j 
and to make furlher mention to congress of the expediency of increasing their ar= 
my. 1 trust this measure will meet their earliest attention.'"! 

December ^Q, 1776. 

" Short enli.^tR^^Dt^, and a mistaken dependence upon militia, iiave been the 
origin of all our misfortunes, rtnd the great accumulation of our debt."| 

We nad, sir, that the enemy are daily gathering strength from the disaffected. 
This strength, like a snow-bali, by rolling, will increase, unless some means c?ri 
be devised to c!jeck effectually the progress of the enemy's arms Militia may 
possibly do it for a little while : but in a little while also, the militia of these 
stages which have been frequently called upon, will not turn out at all, or, if they 
do, it will be with so much reluctance and sloth, a^. to amount to the spme thir g — 
instance New Jersey; witness Pennsolvania ! — could any thing but tlie rivei De- 
laware have saved Philadelphia ? Can any thing (the exigency of the case ia- 
deed mav jj?tify it) be more destructive to the recruiting service, THAjN^ G1 V- 
lIN'G TFuN DOLLARS BOUNTY FOR SIX >veeXS' SERVICE OF THE 
MILITU, WHO COME IN YOU C\NNOT TELL HOW— GO YOU C AX^ 
IN^Or TELL WHEN--A^D ACT YOU CAXXOT FELL WHERE- COX- 
SUME YOUR PROVISIONS— EXHAUST YOUR STORES, AXD LEAVE 
VOU AT LAST AT A CRITIC \L MOMEXT. 



* Idem, page 333. f Idem, page 316. t Idem, pa^e 350. 



JtPPENDiX. 



4m 



Tliese, sir, are the m«n I am to depend upon ten days hence ; this is the ba- 
Hi OQ which your cause will and must forever depend, till you get a large stand- 
ing army sumcient of itself to oppose the enemy."* 

Jamiary I, 1777, 

** After much persuasion, and the exertions of their officers, half or a greater 
proportion of those from the eastward have consented to stay six weeks on a 
bounty of ten dollars. I ft^el the ioconvcniency of thi» advance, and I know the 
eonsequeaces that will result from it — but what could be done ? Pennsylvania had 
allowed the same to her militia — the troops feit thdr importance, and would have 
their price. 'f 

January 5, 1777, 

Their large picquets advanced towards Trenton — their great preparations 
and soma intelligence I h?id received, added to their knowledge that the first of 
January brought on a dissolution of the best part of the army — gave me the 
strongest reasons to conclude tliat an attack upon us was meditating. "| 

January 7, 1777. 

The severity of the season has mide our troops, especially the militia, ex- 
tremely imp atient, and has reduced the number very considerably. Every day 
more or less leave as.'-) 

January 19, 1777. 

** The fluctuating state cf an army composed chiefly of militia, bids fair to re- 
dace us to the situation in which we were some little time ago — that is, of scarce 
having any army at all — except reinforcements speedily arrive. One of the bat- 
talions from the city of Philadelphia goes home to day, and tiie other two only 
remain a few day^ longer upon courtesy. Tiia time for which a country brigade 
under general MiSlin came out is expired : and they stay from day to day by dint 
of solicitation — tiieir numbers much reduced by desertions. "il 

As militia imijt be our dependence till we can get the new army raised and 
properly arranged, \ must entreat you to continue your endeavors with the states 
cf Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virgini:!. to turn out every man they possibly 
an, and for -ome time longer than they generally have stipulated for. IF THEY 
AGREE FOR A MONTH, or any limited time, it should commence from the 
time they actually join the army, and not from the time they leave their homes : 
ot'ierwise tha marching backwards and forwards ecnsJJiuies the term of engage- 

January 22d\ Xin. 
The necessity that we have been and are now under, of calling in and 
arming the militia, scatters our armory all over the world in a manner. Their 
ofScers are so irregular, that they general iy suffer their men to carry home 
every thing that is put into their hands, which is forever lost to the public.'*** 

February, 2Qih, 1777. 

" A.t thiitime we are only about four thousand streng-— a force you will sup- 
pose, uneqfal to a successful opposition, if they were not militia, and far too 
small for the exigencies of our affairs. It is impossible to obtain exact return3» 
though they are daily called for — owing to the frequent and almost constant 
departure of some of the corps>"ff 

^ . Feb, 2m, 1777. 

•* I was m hope?, that, by the time the militia who are now in service would- 
be discharged, we should have had a considerable number of the new levies in 
the field : but, though I have reports from all quarters of the great success of 
the recruiting, I cinnot get a man into the service. General Johnson's militia 
all go the 5th of March (many are gone already) : and general Lincoln's on the 
15tb. These two bodies form JO considerable s part of our force, that, unlesa 
they are replaced, I siiall be in a manner destitute. "^^ 



* Idem, page 350. f Idem, vol. ii. page 2. t Idem, page 3. 

ydem, page 6, || Idem, page IQ. ^ Idem, page li, 

^ Idem, page 14, ff Idem, page 31. J^Ideic. page 

hlZ 



406 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Morrishn-n^ March Wth^ li:7. 
*' Wliat prospect there may be of immediate succours from other quarter?, 
I know not; but from the militia of this state I cannot expect to derive much 
more aid. Those who are well affected have been so frequently called from 
their homes, that they are tired out, and almost profess an abhorrence of the 
service."* 

*' By the paymaster's report, the commissary here requires an immediate 
draft for a hundred thousand • and the militia returning and about to leave camp 
a hundred and twenty thous?nd more. The expense of calling on them so fre- 
<iuently is almost incredible. ''f 

Morristonn, March 2o(k, 1777. 
I urged governor Trumbull in a letter of the 6th iost. to send two thousand 
of his militia to the same place. But sorry I am to observe, rr?=» the militra 
bave got tired. "| 

" For want of pi-f^per coercive powers, from disaffection and other causes—- 
the militia of this state [I^ew-Jersey] are not to be depended upon. — They are 
drawn out with difficulty, and at a most enormous expense, as th.teii* accounts 
will shew: THEY COME, YOU CAN SCARCE TELL ROW: THEV 
GO, YOU HARDLY KNOW WHEN IN THE SAME PREDICAMENT 
ARE THOSE OF PENNSYLVANIA.") 

" Small as our present force is, it will be reduced in a few days, by the goin;^ 
off of the Jersey three -months-men, the Cecil county militia, and the Virginia 
volunteers, all of whom claim discharges next month ."|| 

Jpril 23, 1777. 

" So early as the 6th of March, I wrote to governor Trumbull, earnestly re- 
questing two thousand militia to be sent to general Mc Dougal, to be employed 
at Peekslill and on the communication in West-Chester county, for six wei.ks. 
With this requisition he most n?adily complied, so far as his orders were necessa- 
ry, and (I am certain) his influence would extend. This I have repeated, and 
this supply he has exerted himself to furnish : yet so ineffectual have his endeav- 
ours been, that not more than eight hundred had come out by general Mc Dou- 
gal's return on the 17th instant."? 

May [2th, Mil. 

*' I would observe, if the militia are called out, it should be for a fixed detcr- 
xninate time ; for though they will certainly retujn when that expires, yet that 
is more tolerable than for them to go off in parties every day as their whim and 
caprice suggest — which has always been the case when the time is not stated. J 
would also observe, that if it is possible, they should be engaged to march out of 
their states, if ordered. If their service is located, they will move with grea^, 
reluctance, if they move at all."** 

June, 2d, 1777. 

The shameful deficiency in all our armies affords but too just grounds foF 
disagreeable apprehensions : if the quotas assigned the different slates are not 
im?TiPdiately filled, we shall have every thing to fear. We shall never be able to 
resist their force, if the militia are to be relied on: nor do I know whether their 
aid, feeble and inefficient as it is, is much to be expeded.'^H f 

September 1th, 1777. 
" In respect to the militia requested, [of Jersey] his excellency is doubtfull 
"vrhether they can be obtained : for Goverror Livingston, by a late letter, infcrrag, 
that he had no expectation that more than three hundred of the thousand called 
for to garrison the post? of the Highlands, would march, notwithstanding he had 
issued orders for that purpose j and that three weeks would probably elapse be- 
fore that number went."! X 

October 1th, \117. 

*' Since the action, [i;^ general Forman''s brigade of Jersey militia has quititd 
US, The men began to 'be uneasy at their situation, and desirous to return home 



* Idem, page 42. 
5 Idem, page 47. 
** idem, page 75. 



f tdf-m, page 44. 
II Idem, page 48, 
ft Idem, page 86, 



\ Idem, page 46. 
H Idem, page 64. 
^ Idem, page 163. 



APPENDIX. 



407 



\ 

ana a?, by some intelligence fi-om general Dickinson, there was reason to !magiDe 
tliere niigiit be a call for their services in the Jerseys, it was thought expedient to 
gratify their desirc'^IT 

October ]3th, 1T77. 

I will only observe, that THE CONSEQUENCES of calling the militia into 

THE FIELD IN TilE COURSE OF THE WAR HAVE BEEN SO SEVERELY AND RiriNOUSLY 
FELT, THAT I TRUST OUR VIEWS W^ILL NEVER 3E TURNED TO THEM BUT IN CASES OF 
THE GREATEST EXTREMITY 

November 1st, 1777. 

" The militia from Marylind and Virginia are no longer to be counted on : all 
the former, except about two hundred, are already gone , and a few days, I ex- 
pect, will produce the departure of the whole or chief part of the latter, from the 
importunate applications which some of them have made."ff 

" Agreeable to my expectations, the [Virginia] militia are gone : so that we 
liave none now in aid of the continental troops but those of this state [Pennsylva- 
j^ia] mentioned in the return, and a few from Marylaad.''|^ 

" The militia of this state, supposing they should be tolerably vigorous in their 
exertions, will not be equal to the task : at least it will be difficult, if not imprac- 
ticable, for them to do it. It is to he wished thai such as can be drawn out may be 
engaged to serve THREE MO. NT HS, or TWO AT LEAST, (if it can be ef- 
fected) after their arrival in camp ; and that a mode could be adopted to supply 
their places with others at the expiration of their term, should the exigency of our 
affairs require it. A time for their continuance should be fixed, or they nill al- 
ways be uneasy and pushing off: and the longer circumstances will admit it to be, 
th« better : for, after the period occurs^ for which they come, it will be impossible 
to detain them a moment "HIT 

A perusal of the preceeding extracts can hardly fail to shake 
the faith of the most strenuous advocates for reliance on militia 
for general defence. Never was any point mare ably or con- 
vincingly enforced. The immense importance of the subject — 
the mighty errors that prevail on it — and the ruinous conse* 
quences these errors may entail on us — will, 1 trust, fully justi- 
fy me for such long details. 

The following positions are clearly and irresistibly estab- 
lished : 

1. That the expense of militia is exorbitantly great. 

2. That they cannot be reduced to that strictness of disci- 
pline which is indispensably necessary in all armies. 

3. That the period of service is so short, that it expires be- 
fore they can acquire military skilL 

4. That whatever be the emergency, when the peri Oil of ser- 
vice has expired, the militia cannot be retained in service, 
without solicitation utterly destructive of subordination. 

I am well aware, that there are illustrious exceptions to the^e 
observations. The militia have, in many instances, made a 
grand and glorious display of ail the military virtues, in as high 
a. degree as the bravest veterans. They have defeated equai 
and superior numbers of troops of the latter description*: witness 

IT Idem, page 180. ** Idem, page 189. 

ft Idem, page 197* it Idem, page 200. ITT Idem,p8^e 20L 



408 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



Plattssburg, New-^Orleans, &;c. Bat these cases do not form the 
rule. They are exceptions. And v, ere any person to produce 
me instances to invalidate my positions, I could out-number 
them very considerably. But 1 studiously draw a veil over 
the subject. To any man of reason and common sense, ^Tho 
reflects on the mode of selection, or who inspects a body of 
drafted militia, it must be obvious, that the mode^ is radically 
and incurably wrong. 



CHAPTER LXIX. 

Comcripiwn or Classification cf Militia, to fill up the Army, tlit 
most impariial plan. A measure of the American revolution . 
Borrowed hy Bonaparte. General Knox's system, 

I N'3vv^ undertake to establish mj fifth position, " that the 
system of classification is the most impartial, the most efficacious, 
and the least oppressive mode of calling the militia into service, 
of any of the plans that have ever been devised." 

This mode of calling the militia into service, applies to, and 
bears equally upon, the whole body of militia throughout the 
nation, without exception. This is characteristic of impartial- 
ity and justice, peculiar to this system; and liad it no oiher 
advantage, would entitle it to a decided preference over every 
other. 

That it is most efficacious is equally clear. The service is 
entirely voluntary. No man need serve who does not find him- 
self qualified, and who has any aversion whatever to the service. 
It is needless to prove, as it must be self-evident to the most 
superficial observer, that there is an incalculable difference in 
point of efficiency between any number of men who are drafted 
by lot, and forced to serve, whether they choose or not, and the 
same number who enter the service of their ow n free w ill. 

That this system is the least oppressive, is equally indisputa- 
ble. According to the prevailing militia systems, every man 
drafted must either serve, or send a substitute at his ow n indi» 
Yidual expense. In all the states, heavy, and, to the poor, ruin- 
ous fines, are imposed on delinquents. Thirty three dollars, 
which is the fine in Massachusetts, is an enormous sum to a 
poor person, which forces him into the service, however reluc- 
tant or unfit for duty. Whereas, according to the classification 
plan, all the persons liable to military service throughout the 
stMe^ or states, a& the case may be, contribute their respective 



APPENDIX. 



4m 



i|uotas to vrards paying those who may offer their ser vie og, or 
who may be enlisted, if enlistment be necessary, vvliica it rare* 
iy will be. 

My slsth proposition is, " that the classification system pre- 
vailed during the revolution." 

All that is necessary to prove this, is to refer ihe reader to 
the followin<5 extracts from the laws of Pensylvania, which 
were similar in subsiance to those enacted in the other states. 

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the commission- 
ers of the city and several counties of ihU state respectively, or any two of tiieni 
shall direct tiie a<sesecT5 of the several to'iynships, wards, and districts, in the 
said city and counties respectively, to meet oa or before tae first day of February 
next, at the u-ual place of holdiiig courts ia the said city and counties respective- 
ly, or at f;i *h ot ier place or place.^ where the said coin fiibsioners saail think 
LDO-t coaveuieiit, aiid >hall tiien and there, in coajunction with the said asiessors, 
proceed to cU>s the taxable persoiis and proprTty witain the said city and coun- 
tie'< respectively, in ?ach tnarjner tiiat the said property, togetiier with a propor- 
tionable S'lm on all taxable' single freemen, siiall be divided into as many equal 
parts as tii? qiiota of men, which the said city and coiir:tie.« re-;pectively are by 
this act required to enlibt, shail consi<?t of, paying due reg;ard to the ease and con^ 
vcuience of the inliabitaiitr,. by including those who resid-^ near each other iv'thin 
the same cla?s , and shall transmit tch the «*^veral classes, by person-? by 
tiiena to be appointed for that servic e, an order in writins^ under the i iand? of the 
said cnniiDi .^ioner-a, or any two of thern, with a duplicate annexed, containing the 
jmm-\=? of -'ac 1 and ever^• person composing t!ie ?ame,re|uinng each of the said cias- 
se^ TO ENL':5T DUR(NG TRE V \R \ND l^ELIVER TO THE PROPER 
OFFICE i. ONE VBLE BODIED RECRUIT WITHIN FIFTEEN DAYS 
THEREAFTER 



And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the commi.'sioners 
of the city and several counties of this state, r espectively or any two of them, 
sha^l forthwith transmit to the several cla.-ses. clashed by virtue of nn act of the 
assembly of thii= state, er-titlf^d. An act ^o complete the quota of the federal 
army assi«;ned to this state." parsed the 'i-venty third day of December, one thou- 
sand seven hundred and eigiity, by persons to be by tiiem appoint-^d for that ser- 
vice, an order in writing under 1 heir hind^, vrnh a duplicate annexed <"ontaining 
the names of each and every person compoj-inj, such cl'^^s, requiring -ach of the 
said clashes to enlist fortheter.-n of eizhtteen mo:!ths. as aforesaid, -irrd DELIVER 
TO THE PROPER OFFICER, OXE IBLB BODIED RECRuiT WITH- 
IN FIFTEEN DVyS 

** \nd be it enacted by the authority af^oresaid, Tliat if any class or classes 
5hall neglect or refuse to enlist one able bodied recruit as aforesaid, within the 
time limited and directed, or to make return thei eof to the assessors of the proper 
township, ward, or district, it shall and mav be lawful for the ^said commissioners, 
to'^nsiiip. ward, or district assessors, or any of them, and .hey are hereby author- 
ized and required to enlist for the term aforesaid, and deliver to the proper ofiiceF 
one able bodied recruit in behalf of such cla^s or classes, respectively ; and that 
It shall and mav be lawful for the said comnii-sionars. township, ward, or district 
assessors, or either of them, wh^re such neglect or refii?ai sh.all happen, to pro- 
ceed and levy, in the manner directed by the la'.vs now in force for levying and 
collectmg other public taxes, on the class or classes so neglecting or refusing, the 
gum agreed tc be paid by the said comniissioners, townsiiip, ward, or district as 

* Laws of Pennsylvaaia-, 1730, chap. cxci. page'42S. 



410 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



ssssors, or any of them, to the said recru't, and the reasonable expenses accruing 
thereupon, in proper proportions, accordiug to the last public tax levied therein" j 
vrhJch they are !iereby enjoined and directed to do within two days after such re- 
cruit siiaii be enlisted. 

Be it faither enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the eoramissioners of 
the several counties, respectively, shall provide and keep a book', into which they 
shall enter in naaierica! order the several delinqnent classes, as they shall be re- 
ttirjied to them, an<i sliill enlist recruits for tlie said delinquent classes, according, 
to their respective numbers, and in like nianner levy and collect the r-ania impos- 
ed on theai respectively by this act. 

By these lav. s, each class was obliged to furnish an al.Ie bod- 
ied recruit — either one of their own number, or a person to bo 
enlisted by them, and at their joint expense — which is precise- 
ly the idea of the secretary of state and Mr. Giles. 

This is, I presume, conclusive. This relieves the system of 
classification from the odium attached to it as a discovery of 
the proline brain of Boniiparte. His inventive powers have 
had more credit in this resf}ect than they deserve. He has ta- 
ken the plan at second hand from the sages and heroes of the 
revolution. 

My seventh point is, " that the classification cr conscription 
system, most eiai)orately matured by General Knox, and stamp- 
ed with the seal of General Washington's approbation, was 
more strict in its provisions than any of the recent plans." 

Generul Knox addressed his system to President Washing- 
ton. It bears date, Jannary 18, 1790 — and the letter which 
prefaces it, has the following introduction : 

*' Having f^ubmitted your consideration, a plan for the arrangenaent of the 
militia of the United States, which I had presented to the late congress of the 
United States, and you having approved the general principles thereof, rAth cer- 
tain exceptions.. I now respecifuliy lay the same before you, mocUJied according 
to the atierations you were pleased io suggest " 

From this plan, approved, as we see, and submitted to con- 
gress by General Washington, 1 submit an extract, amply ade- 
qu 'te to prove, ihit it bore the essential features which belong 
to the system of defence which has been hunted dov>n by the 
folly and madness of party. In fact, it was much more strict 
and severe in its details, than either of those digested by the 
secretary at war or Mr. Giles — that enacted in New-York — or 
the one rejected by the sapieot legislature of Pennsylvania.— 
None of the recent plans contemplated service beyond 45 years 
— whereas, General Knox carried his views to a third class, to 
be composed of citizens between 46 and 60 years. His ])lan 
likewise contemplated compulsory service of the mariners, 
wiio, as we shall see, were to be subject to conscription. 

f Idem, page 501. . 



APFENDIXe 



Extrad from General Knox'^s plan for iJhe general arrangement of 
the Militia of. the United States, submitted to Congress hy 
General fVaskingtony January 1790, and published by order 
of the House of Represent atives ofttie United States, 

An energetic national militia is to be regaided as the capital security of a 
free republic, and not a slaiiding army, forming a distinct class m tiie commu> 
uity. 

The period of life in which military service shall be required of the citizens 
of the United States, to coyimence at 18, and terminate at Llie age of t>0 years. 

* The men comprehended by this de^c^iption, exclusive of such exceptions as 
the legislatures ol' the respective states may thiiik proper io make, and aii actual 
^imriiLers^ sivali be enrolled for different degrees oi military duty, and dividi-d 
into distinct classes, 

Tlie l^i class shall comprehend the youth of 13, 19, and 2{/ years of age, to 
be denominated ihe advanced corps. 

Ttie 2d class shall include the men from 21 to 45 years of age, to be denomi- 
nated the main corps. 

The 3d class shall comprehend inclusively the men from 46 to CO years of 
ago, to be denominated the reserved corps. 

*' All the militia of the United Slates shall assume the form of the legion, which 
shall be the permanent estabiisument thereof. 

" A ieg'OQ shall consist of 153 commissioned officers, and 2830 non-commis- 
sioned oAicers and privates. 

The companies of all the corps shall be divided in sections of 12 each. It is 
pr »posed by this division, to establish one uniform vital priaciple, M'iiica in peace 
and war shall pervade the miiitia o> the United ^States. 

All requisitions for men ioform an army, either for state or federal purposes, 
shall be furnisned by the advanced and raani corps by means of the sccUons. 

The executive government or commander in cUiefof the militia of each state, 
^ill assess the numbers required on the re.-*pective legions of these corps. 

The legionary general wiii direct the proportions to be iurnished by eacli 
part of his command, bhould the demand be so great as to require one man from 
each section, tnen the operations hereby directed shall be performed by single 
sections. But if a less number shouid be required, they will be furnished by an as- 
sociation of sections or Cv-mpanies, according to the demand. In any case, it is 
probable tnat mutual convenience may dictate an agreement with an individual 
to peribrm the service required. If however no agreement can be made, one 
iiiu-st be detached by an iudi-criminL^te draft, and the odiers shall pay him a sum 
of money equal to the averaged sum wiiich siiall be paid in the legion for the vol- 
untary performduce of tne sei vice required. " 

' In case any section or company of a legion, after having furnished its own 
quota, sliould have more m^n wiliing to engage for the service required, other 
companies of the same legion shall have permission to engage them — the same 
rule lo extend to the different legions of the state. 

'■ • File legionary general muse be responsible te the commander in chief of the 
military of the state, that the men furnished are accordiug to the descnption, and 
thai they are equipped in the manner and mardlied to the rendezvous, conforma- 
ble to tii€ orders for that purpose. 

f ne men who m iy be drafted, shall not serve more than three years at one 
time. 

All the actual mariners or sea-men in the respective states, shall be registered 
in districts, and divided into two classes— the first class to consist of all the seamea 
from the age of 16 to 30 years inclusively — the second class to consist of all those 
from the age of 31 to 45 inclusively. 

*• Tne dr^t class shall be responsible to serve three years on board of some pub- 
lic armed vessel or snip of war, as a commissioned, warrant officer,|or private ma- 
rine, fox which smice they shall receive the customary wages and emoluments. 



412 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



The 2d class eliail be responsible for a portion of service in those c-asf ? 
-which the first class shall be uiiecu.Vi— the iiua»ber required shall be furnished by 
sections, in the same manner as is prescribed for the sections of the militia." 



** The advanced legions, in all cases of invasion and rebellion, shall, on requisi- 
tion of the 1pw!u1 sutLoi ity, be obliged to niarcii to any place within tJie United 
States, to remain embodied for such time as shall be directed, not lO exceed one 
year, to be computed uom the time of marchirg from the regimental paiade ; 
during tli? period of their beir..g on such service to be placed on the continental es- 
tablisiiment of pay, subsistence, clotldng, forage, tents, camp equipage, and ail 
MICH- other allovrances as are made iojcdcral trocpSy at the same time and under 
the same circumstances." 



** The common mode of recruiting is attended with too great destruction of 
morals to be tolerated, and is too uncertain to be liie principal resource of a wise 
7.ation in time of danger. The public failh is frtqutiit y \^ ounded by unworthy 
individuals who hold out deiusive promises ^liich can never be realized. By 
fuch means an unpriiiciphd banditti are often collected, for the purpose of de- 
fending every thing that j-hould be dear to freemen. The consequences are nritu- 
ral : such men eltiier desert in time of danger, or are ever ready on the slightest 
disgust to turn their arms again-t their country. By the eslablishment of tiie sec- 
tions, an ample and permanent source is opened, when the state in every exieency 
aaay be supplied with men whose ail depends on the pr<>sperity of their countiy.'* 

I request the reader \vill duly weigh these extracts, and ^vill 
examine the admirable plan, at large, T\'hich ought to inmioital- 
ize the memory of General Knox. I hope and trust the (ia\ is 
not far distant, \Nhen the adoption of such a system \\\\{ ; lace a 
rampart around our firesides and our families, which might ' id 
defiance to all the hosts of Europe combined, were they to at- 
tempt our subjugation. This would far exceed the famous Chi« 
nese wall built to guard against the incursions of the Tartars — 
or the Pictish wall of the Roman general Agricola. 

I cannot pass over one incident connected with this affair, 
^hich shews in a striking point of light, the delusion which the 
spirit of faction excites. After the noble, efficient systems c 
the secretary at war and BIr. Giles fell sacrifices to the convul 
sive struggles in congress for power — and after, of course, the 
country was thus left in a manner defenceless and exposed to 
the inroads of a powerful enemy, the house of f^elegates of the 
state of Maryland published an address to Refus King, Esq. lav 
ishiag compliments on him for his services in defeating these 
plans of defence, subjecting their houses, their wives, their chil 
dren, their parents, and themselves, to the mercy of Cockburn 
and Gordons ! ! \ 

*' Resolved, That the thanks of this bouse, in behalf of the freemen of Mary 
land, be, and thej; are hereby presented to the honorable Bufus King, of the sf rt 
of the United States, for the seasonable and successful interposition of ras esj A 
enced wisdom and €'l-va<:ed influence of character, in avertirg ihe meditated cpera 
tion of a measure, hortileto the immunities of constitutional freedom, o5ei)-»vet 
the pure genius of independence, and fraught with consequence^ balefu' and appal 
ling to the so^jial order, traaquilityj well being of this United republic. 



APPENDIX. 4n 

And ttiifi house would accompany the respectful tribute, which is thus special- 
ly offered, with a general expressiou of the grateful sense ^hich it also entertaing 
of iii^ dis .iuguished merit of tue otner members of the minority, who so stedfastly 
and ably co operated, at everyTTfevivai of the struggle, in both branches of con- 
gress, iu combating against the insidious introduction of an authoritative conscript 
fcstabiishmeiit, more epecious in ihe form of its approach, but not essentially dif- 
ferent fromtnat, whose intense oppression has just vaaished from the continent of 
jCurope, with its guilty author, tiie blood-stained usurper of France.'' 

CHAPTER LXX. 

^errymanchrism, Derivalion of this queer name. Political Leg^ 
enkmain. A grand discovery how to enable a minority to rule 
(he majority. Joint and concurrent votes. General tickets 

It is a painiul truth, discreditable to human nature, that 
politicians, even those who in jirivate life are honest and up- 
right, display considerable laxity of [irinciple, in Ciises wherein 
the interest, or the power, or the influence of ihe [>arty to w hich 
they are attached, is in question. From this strong and point- 
ed censure, few parties, in any age or country, have (>een free. 
It is not th?refore wonderful, that both federalists and demo- 
crats have been liable to it. Their history affords many deci- 
sive illustrations of the soundness of the maxim. 

The subject to which I have devoted this cliapter, is an un- 
answerable corroboration of the accusation. It involves a gross 
\^ioldtion of justice and [}oiitical morality — and, virmally dis» 
franchising one portion of the community, imparls to the other 
an undue share of political inauence. This is assuredly a high 
crime and misdemeanour, deserving of the most pointed repro» 
balion of good men of all parlies. 

It has reference to the representation in the senates of the 
individual states. 

As this book may fall into the hands of persons unacquaint- 
ed with our systems of government, it may not be improper to 
state, that our legislatures are generally composed of a senate 
and house of re})resentatives, or delegates*^ To the latter branch 
each county in the state to which it belongs sends one or more 
representatives. In fourteen of the states the representation is 
in proportion to the population. But io Delaware, Maryland, 
Virginia, and North Carolina, it is regulated merely by counties, 
no regard being paid to the population. 

Tke senates, in almost every case, are composed of members 
chosea by districts, formed by two or more counties, which 

Mm 



414 



THE OLIVE BBANCH. 



districts elect a nnmber of senators m proportion to their popfs* 
lation, except in the four states specified. 

The abo\e arrangement and the adjustment of these districtg 
opens a door tea considerabie degree of inrigue and m nage- 
inent, and invites to chicane and fraud — in one word, to the po- 
litical ^in vvliich 1 hdive siy led Gcrrijmatukrism, 

The ifjjusiice lies in so arranging ihe counties, in the forma- 
tion of districts, as to produce the effect stated in the second 
paragrapho 

To accomplish this sinister purpose, counties are frequently 
united to form a senatorial district, which have no territorial 
connexion, being separated from each other by an intervening 
county, some limes by iwo or three. Of this heinous politi^jal 
sin, both federaikls and democrats, as 1 have said, have been 
guilty. 

The state of Massachusetts was depicted, two or three years 
since, as a sort of monstrous figure, with the counties forming 
the senatorial districts, disijlayed on this unprincipled plan.— 
It was called a Gerrijmandcr^^ in allusion to the name of the 
iate vice-president of the United states, then governor of that 
state. Bence, 1 derive the term Gerrymanderihm, To those 
who gave the title of Gerrymander^ it might not unaptly be said 
■^^'mcB i>f ■glms^ ikrGw no stones^'''' 

To enable tl>e reader to form a correct idea of th€ extreme 
frnd flagrant injustice that may be perpetrated in this mcde. 
wdthout any apparent violation of law or ccnstiti tion, i will 
explain how the minority may be enabled to rule the majority, 
so far as respects 5he senatorial branch of the legislature. 

I suppose a case. Six counties, ^ach containing 1 ,000 voters^ 
ai-e to be formed into three senatorial districts, each to elect four 
senatot^. These districts may be so contrived, that the party 
predomkiaiit ki the legislature at the time of arranging them^ 
whether federal or democratic, with 2,320 voters, shall have 
eight senat- ; tl>e other, with 8,680. shall have only four, 
and, nevertheless, every elector of tlie whole €,000 shall exer- 
cise the right of suffrage. 

You may well be amazed, reader. Hut it is so. Such is the 
political jiJggle and hocus pocus, that our public naen of botfe 

* The federalists, who have always been very adroit in political <!brjsteDir?g3, 
ccdeavcured, by the u?e cf this name, to cast the cdiiim exclusively on their an- 
tagonists, as if they themselves v,€re in.maculate on this subject The idea ii 
unsound. 

} The Boston fellas are said to be foil of notions. They 1 ave beer prelty no- 
tional on the subject of the English lang^uage, which ihey have an plified, I will 
pot yentiire to say incprcved, with many such queer vs ords. 



I 



APPENDIX. 



parties too frequently play to acquire or to perpetaate an undue 
si^ire of power. 

I now state the numljer of voters of each of the six countieS) 
to which I give the following names : 



Counties. Federalists, Democrats. 

Jackson 120 880 

Erie 280 720 

Cham|>lain 340 660 

Macdoiiough 680 320 

Perry 150 850 

Porter 750 250 



23^0 3680 



I might have styled the parties big-endians and Htile'endianSo 
The name is oi' no irn-jortance. 

Now for a display of political legerdemain — in order to ena- 
h\e the minority to rule the majority ; 

District No. \~formed of Erie and Forter counties. 



Federal, Democratic, 

Erie 280 720 

Porter ' 750 250 

1030 970 

Distriet No. 2— formed of Champlain and Macdonoitgh^ 

Federal. Democratic. 

Champlain 3 40 660 

Macdonough 680 320 

1020 980 

Distriet No. 3— formed of Jackson a^id Perry. 

Federal. Democratic* 

Jackson 120 880 

^errj 150 850 

2^70 1730> 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Thus, as I have stated, a minority of 2,320 inhalritants have 
twice as many senators as the majority of 3, 680 — their eanxii- 
^ates having been successfui in the two first districts In the 
Erst district tiie democratic minority is 970 — in the second 980, 
vhich are wholly lost. And the majority in the third distiici is 
173'), whereas 1010 would have equally secm'ed the election.—- 
It therefore follows, that by this arrangement, there are S70, 
980, and 620 democratic votes absolutely thro\\n awaj^ 

This is an extreme case. Injustice, carried to such flagrant 
extent, does not often occur. The instances, however, of this 
kind, but of an inferior degree, are by no means unfrequent. It 
thence happens that a senate is sometimes democratic, while 
the house of representatives in the same state is decidedly fede- 
ral ; and vice versa. 

This political arithmetic, lil^e every other science, has its 
arcana. The grand and unerring rule is to make your own mi- 
norities and majorities as small, and ihcse of jour adversaries 
as large, as possible. In o'ther words, to throtv away as few 
votes on your own side, as many on the other, as in ycur 
power. This fraudulent practice admits bi:t of one efifectual 
remedy. Senatorial districts ought to he formed of copnties 
and parts of counties quite contigfious to each other, so that all 
those who vote for each senator shall be residents of the sams 
neighborhood* 



There is another political frdvA, of which both parties have 
been occasionHlly guiUy, and v^hich deserves the severest re- 
probation. It h^^s res ect to the choice of memb ers of the 
house of renresen^atives of the United States, and electors of 
the president and vice [^resident. 

For these very important operations, there >s not, abhcugh 
reason and justice loudly call for it, a fixed i nd peima- 
nent rule. The ledslatures of the individufJ sUtes, have the 
po^ er of decidins: u; on the mode, and as it respects the repre- 
sentatives, upon the time of the election. Hence, flag;rant in- 
justice is frequently j)erpetrated. 

These elections'are sometimes l y districts, in the spm.e man- 
Tier as the state senators are elected ! at others, by a general 
ticket. 

The last mode is extremely urS?\v rnd incorrect. It de- 
prives the minority altogether of any share ia the representa- 
tion. 



AFFENDIX, 



417 



A short statement I folly evince the extreme injustice and 
inequality of a general ticket for members of congress, orelec* 
tors of president. 

Mass^ichusetts is entitled to members of the house of 



re .resentatives ef the United States, 20 

New' York 27 

Pennsylvania 23 

Virginia 23 



Total— 93 

Suppose either of the parties, federal or democratic, to have 
a^very small majority in %^ach of these states, say 2,000 votes; 
suppose also the whole number of votes in the four states to be 
300,000. The resiilr will be, that if the elections be by gene- 
ral tickets, 154,000 vo ers will secure the entire representaiion^ 
which is m )re than ha f the whole number of members of con- 
gress — and that the remaining 146,000 have no representative. 
Hiis idea might be pursued to a great exterJ. But I leave it to 
the pen or pencil of the reader. 

Instances have frequently occurred in the diiferent spates, of^ 
the mode of election bein^; changed on the spur of the occa- 
sion, ro salt ihe m >mentary purposes of party or faction. The 
mvjst recent case that has occurred, was in the state of iVew- 
Jerspv in 1812. Fram the orii;aaization of the general govern- 
ni 5 fill the year IBOO, the members of the house of rejjresea- 
tat.ves of the United States had been elected in that state bj 
districts. In 1800, the f^ideralists had a majority in the legisla- 
tur.^, and calc'.dated on a majority of votes in the whole st?^te.— 
In order, therefore, to engross the whole representation to them- 
selves, on the ere of the election, they repealed the district 
law, and passed an act for electing the representatives by a ge- 
neral ticket. Contrary to their calculations, the democratic 
ticket prevailed then and in every subsequent election, till the' 
year 1812. In the latter year, the federalists having a tempo- 
rary ascen leoey in the state legislatifre, one of their first act& 
was to repeal the general election lave, which they had them- 
selves enacted, and to restore the election by districts, w hich 
they had formerly repealed. And by Gerrymandering the state 
to suit their view^^, they gained four out of the six representa- 
tives ; whereas by a geaeral ticket tbey would not have o^jtaia^- 
&d one. 

Another reprehensible procedure, emanating from the samer 
Iteity of principle, respects elections by our legislative bodies*- 

Mm 2 / 



418 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



When the politics of the two branches of a legislature are dif- 
ferent, there is frequently a struggle about the mode of election 
— whether by a joint or a concurrent vote. The senate, being 
ihe less numerous body, are, in the case of a joint vote, merged 
and lost in the greater number of the house of representistives. 
They are, therefore, strenuous supporters of a concurrent vote, 
in vv^hich their influence is equal to that of the co ordinate 
branch. The other house, confiding in its numbers, is equally 
zealous for a joint vote, wherein it will have the ascen- 
dency. The state of Pennsylvania was, many years since, 
for a considerable time unrepresented in the senate of the Uni- 
ted States, in consequence of a struggle of this kind— neither 
party being disposed to concede to the other. 

It is a grand desideratum to have all these points clearly and 
explicitly defined by the constitutions. There should be as lit- 
tle temptation to fraud, and as little safety in the perpetration 
ef it, as possible. 

CHAPTER LXXI. 

State of representation in Massachusetts. Wretched system of 
representation in Maryland and Virginia, Rotten boroughs. 

It may not be improper here to introduce an analogous sub- 
- ject respecting the representation in the state of Massachusetts. 
The men who framed the constitution of that state were proba- 
bly as highly enlightened and respectable as any^ equal number 
^f men ever convened for such a purpose. But they neverthe- 
less committed some very egregious errors which are really as- 
tonishing. Thd most conspicuous was neglecting precisely to 

the number of representatives in the more numerous branch 
of the legislature. The consequence is, that its numbers have 
Suctuated in the most extraordinary and incredible degree. 
There have been, I believe, as many as 700— at other times, 
not half the number. And the town of Boston has had a small 
army of representatives, no less than forty-four — being a greater 
number than the whole senate and house of representatives of 
the state of Delaware — than the entire senate of South Caroli- 
na, or Pennsylvania — and than the assembly of New Jersey. 

This defect in their representative system arises from a flaw 
in the constitution, resoecting the choice of members of the 
Mouse of representatives — instead of the imperative, they shall 
etect^ the phrase is, they may elect. 



APPENDIX. 



** Every corporate town containing one hundred and fifty rateable polls, may 
&lect one represeutntive :— every, corporate town, containing thiee hundred and 
seventy-5-ve rateable polls, may elect two representatives : — every corporate 
town, containing six hundred rateable polls, may elect ttiree representatives :— - 
and proceeding in that manner, making two hundred and twenty five rateable 
polls tiie mean increasing number for every additional representative." 

Every town has heretofore paid (and I believe still pays) 
its own representatives : and from a sordid, miserable, huck- 
stering, and contemptible spirit of economy, some of them send 
uo representatives—others, regardless of expense, send fuii as 
many as they are entitled to — and some, it is presumable, 
when party spirit runs high, send more than their quota. 

On retiection, I cannot conceive how Boston can be entitled 
to 44 representatives. The city of Philadelphia, with a popu- 
lation of 57,000 inhabitants, has never polled more than 6,000 
votes. The right of s»}tfrage here is as latitudinarian as anj 
where; much more than in Massachusetts, ^vhere a citizen 
must be w^orth 60Z. to qualify him to vote. According to the 
Massachusetts principle, we should be entitled only to about 
27 representatives. Boston has but S3,000 inhabitants, and 
yet has had forty-four<. 

I 

■■I mjQ ^ ^LJmm 

Representation, which is the key stone of free governmeatv 
is arranged very incorrectly in several other states. The 
Gerrymander principle, is, alas ! too prevalent. The lust cf 
povfer induces parties to hold tenaciously whatever political 
advantages they possess, however unjust their operation. 

This subject woidd almost require a volume. But 1 am a* 
fraid the reader is tired of my scribbling — and, to be candid 
I am tired myself. I pant for a close* I shall barely glance 
at a few enorm >us traits of injustice. 

Each of the counties of Maryland has four representatives in 
the house of delegates. There is, nevertheless; a most enorm- 
ous difference in the population* 

Inhabitants o Represe ntatives. 



Fretlerick county 


34,477 


4 


Anne Arundel 


26,668 


4 


Baltimore 


29,255 


4 


Hartford 


21,258 


4 


Baltiaaore city 


46,555 


2 




158,213 


IS 



4^0 THE OLIVE BRANCH. 

Thus four counties, aad the city of Baltimore, have only 18 

Xepresentatives. 

Counties. ' Inhabitants. Representatives. 



Aiieg.my 6 909 4 

Cr.ivert 8.005 4 

Caroline 9,453 4 

Kent 11,450 4 

St, MaryV 12,794 4 



48,011 20 



These five counties have twenty representatives. Thus- 
4B,6il persons, in cue part of the state, have 10 per cent, more 
Inthaence than 158,213 in another. If this be not Gerrymander- 
ism^ pray what is ? 

Kent county, in Delaware, has but 20,495 inhabitants — Sus- 
sex 27,750. Bat each elects an equal niiniber of representatives 
and senators. 

The same wretched and unjust system prevails in Virginia» 
Each county has two rej>resentative&. And there is a more 
enormous disproportion in the population, and more flagrant in= 
justice, than in Maryland. 

I annex a view of the population of sixteen counties, whirh 
liave thirty-two representatives in the house of delegates. — 
Eight of them, it will he seen, have 163,000 inhabitants, and 'the 
other ei2:ht onlv 27,0^30. Thus six men in the first list have no' 
Wiove iniiuence in the making of laws, than one in the second ! 



Counties, 


JnhabitmUs, 


ReprcsentaiiveSo 


Caroline 


17,544 


2 


Buckingham ^ 


20.05^ 


2 


Albemarle 


T8,268 


2 


Fauquier 


22,689^ 


2 


Frederic ^ 


22.574 


2- 


Halifax 


22,131 


2 


Loudon 


2L338 


2 


Mecklenberg 


18.453 






163,056 


1€ 



APPENDIX- 



421 



^Gtiniies, hikahitaiiis, Representaiivc.% 

Warwick 1.835 2 

Fiouvanna 4,7 75 2 

Midilesex 4,414 2 

* Patrick 4,6§5 2 

* Mason 1,991 2 

* Taze.veil 3,007 2 

* Brooke 2,717 2 

* Giles 3,745 2 



27,179 18 

Same subject once more, in a still more striking point of 
vie w. 

Counties. Inhabitants, Representaiives* 

Fauquier 22,689 2 

Frederic 22,574 2 



45,^63 4 



Co7int{es^ hihabiinnts. Representatives 

Warvick 1,33.5 2 

Mason 19 41 2 



3,826 4 



Thus, eleven inhabitants of the former counties have not a& 
much weight as oiie m ilie loK*"* • 

L'^t ao V irginian '^fter Uiis statement, dare to censure the rot^ 
ten horo!i<£hs of En^l md. This siale of represenlaiion is in the 
true S|)irit. of thai oorou2:h sysiein. 

When vve take fiiHy info consMeratlon the youth of this 
country — the era at which the American constitutions v^ere 
formed — the scenera! diffi^sion <jf politic il knowledge — the illu- 
mination of, and advantae:es • oss€?sed by, the conventi* ns that 
framed these constituaons; snd when we likt wise rel^ect on 
the borouizh system in Eng? aid, anvl the natural tendency of 
all political institiUions towards corruption, unless frequent re- 
eurrence is had ta first princiides — I am really inclined to 
think, that palli ttions may more readil v be found for the i^orougb 
system in brnglamh wretched and corrupt as it is, than for tks- 
county representation in Virginia and Maryland.^ 



* New Counties, 



422 



THE OLIVE BRA:^Ca 



The koavish tricks, which I have glanced at in this chapter, 
cannot be too highly despised, whether perpetrated by federalists 
or democrats. It is to be regretted, that there is no coutt of 
jastice, to punish s jch political frauds, how henious soever they 
mdy be.^ A man shall be sentenced for years to saw marble, for 
a depredation on the property of his neighbor, to the amount of 
a few dollars. But a large portion of a state may be virtually 
disfranchised by its representatives, without a possibility oi re* 
^ress, and the culprits wholly escape punishment. 

To the calm and dispassionate consideration of the publio 
these views are respectfully submitted. That enormous evils 
exisv, and loudly call for a remedy, cannot be doubted or denied. 
That those whose political influence rests on the basis of these 
evils, will submit to have them redressed, i fondly hope and 
pray— hut, reas(»ning from the general Cf>urse of human affairs, I 
am not very sanguine on the subject. For in the whole history 
of mankind, from (be earliest records to the present time, there 
are hardly anv instances to be found, of that glorious spirit of 
justice and seil-denial, that induces nations or public bodies 
voluntarily to renounce any important advantages they may 
possess, however unjus»iy they may have been acquired^ — or 
however oppressive or iniquitous their operation. Ard he 
must be a fool or a madman, who, after reflecting on the pages 
of the " abstract and brief chronicle''^ of our times, is> very san- 
guine in the expectation that we shall prove ourselves mucfe 
wiser or better than our ancestors — or that we shall avail our- 
selves much more of the light of history, to guide our piiths, 
than the nations that have preceded us. Every stage of our 
progress, fraught with folly and error, forbids the flattering antl* 
cipation. 

CHAPTER LXXIl. 

A wonderful contrast, " Let every soul he subject to the higher 
p6?vfrs,'^ — Rev, Dr. Morse — Rev, Dr, Parish — Rev. Dr. 
Osgood. Invocation to war. Governor Gilman. 

Of the seditious and treasonable opposition to the govern*- 
naent. w hich lately prevailed in th*^ eastern states, I have given 
copious specimens in chapters 52 and 56. 



APPENDIX. 



423 



-It is difficult to decide which is greater, the disgrace of the 
government m ils pusillanimous and feeble suomission to such 
lawless outrages, or that of :he parties who perpetrated them. 
Never before did such (reason \ble conduct experience the samu 
impuniiy. And never again, I hope, will the same experiment 
be made of the im'oeciiity of the government of the United 
States, be it in whose hands it mny, whether democratic or fed- 
eral. The result, it is true, has not l>een unfavourable, 'i'he 
tornado has spent its fury without destroying the majestic edi- 
fice of our government, which it threatened with perdition — 
and vvithout [)rovoking civil w^r. But the guiit of those who 
raised the storm, and the guilt of those who shamefuHy neglect- 
ed the necessary measures to ward off its territic consequences, 
is precisely the s.^me as if it had produced those awful results, 
from which the finger of heaven alone saved this favored nation. 

It may not be amiss to contrast with those horrible violations 
of law and propriety, the maxims and conduct oi the federal 
leaders and their advocates when they held the reins of govern- 
ment. It will afford an interesting example of the facility 
wirh which our views ofoojectsand our sentiments caa be 
moulded to suit the purposes of the moment. 

And, to commence, I beg the reader will carefully peruse 
the sedition law, passed Anno 1798, of which he will hiid the 
principal features in chapter 2. 

By this law, 

If any persons should combine or conspire together, io oppose any measun 6t 
measures of the govern^nrnt the United. Stales w^uch si^ould be directed by the 
proper authority, thev should be subject io ajine not exceeding f.ve thousand 
d)ltars—and grj=» to imprisonrntnt, not less than six months, nijr more than 
jive years.*'* 

Reader, ponder w ell on these f^w lines. And refiert what 
w^ould have become of the Chittendens, the Otises, the Picker- 
ings, the Blakes, ihe Wef>ster3, the Kings, the Russels, aim 
muliis aliis, had this law been carried into operation against 
them. There is not a man of therri that would not have lakea 
his abode in a prison, and paid a fine of perhaps five thousand 
dollars. There are some of them, who, had this law remained 
in existence, would have incurred its penalties a thousand 
times. 

In the month of October, 1808, a rumor prevailed, that 
Bonaparte had declared war agaiast this country. The federal 
papers then threatex?ed ^' the parthans of France'' with the 
vengeanet> of the l-v — a3^e, and v ith vf n£:ean<5e beyond the 
law, if they dared to make the ieast oppositioa to the govern- 



424 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



ment, or display [heir regards for France, even in conversatios, 
Tijey were ordered " to lower their tone'' — or threatened with 
being "^mf to their master.''^ Of the style of these denuncia- 
tions and threads, 1 annex a fair hnd full specimen, from the 
Gazette of the United States, October 22, ]808. 

*' If the newF this day received of 'in actual df^claration of war by Ponaparte, 
shou'd prove true, the iruiioious tmx^carieb f Napoleon nJio every nhere Qbi^vnd 
in the coun'ry^ wiUJind it necessary to loner thtirijre ^Vhat can be tolf-raiecl ie 
time of peace. ^J=^ iHE PEOPLE U ILL NOT LEAR \N 'i \ML OF - R. 
Tiie advocates of :^ rencli despoti.-n. mu:t eiiher go to ih-eir master^ or Q^^/^ be 
tnore cautious ^in their language. i< is true tijat France has. to all iDlt-u..-: acd 
purposes, been making war upon u? thesr" twelve months. But a« it has not been 
declared in form, and as our governmi nt l^ave not thought proper to make any 
oppoe-ition, the papers of P^'cpol'-on. and his agents of every description, liave 
hitherto been suffered to carry on ilieir intiigues. and to promote? tlie c:.u-c of 
their master by every means vrhicii they chose to adopt. WE MU6T PsOW 
CORRECT THE PROCEDURE." 

One other newspaper specimen, of an earlier period, fiom the 
Baitioiore Fe Jeral Gazette, July 5, 171^8 — 

I believe, that some of the old French leaven still remains amongst us, aiid 
that some vile and detienerate wretches, whom 1 cajl French parti^cm, or 
American jacobins^ will not join any military R>sociation, or pattiofic loi<L'. but 
discourage them as far a? tb^^y dare. These men si^ould be carefully watcbed : 
and if they should artfully attemp to form any military corps (and t'.u y wiii be 
known by the character of ti'.eii ofEcers and privates) notice sliraiid be givti) to 
our federal and state G0VE^v^">IENTS, to jtytvtnt cominis^io^u issuing from nant 
«/" in formatim • * ' 

This is, I presume, enough of this description. 

I now proceed to detail the sentiments of three clereymfn, 
^ho have rendered therjn^erves consj icuoiis by their re.ricorous 
hostility to the administrations of IVlr. Jefierson and Mr. Tvladi- 
^on — ^the Rev. Jedidiah Morse, the Rev. David Osgocd. and 
the Rev. Elijah Parish. 1 have jio recent sermon of Br. 
Morse's : But of the anti=christian spirit that predominates in 
the Inte sermons of the two latter gentlemen, I have given 
abundant proofs and specimens in the 56th cha[)ter cf this 
work. Let ns examine what were their sentiments when the 
ad ndnist ration vras in the hands of their own party. Never was 
4.here a stronger contract. 

And £rst, of Dr. Parish. This reverend gentleman deli ver- 
ged an address, on the 4th of Ju]y, 1 79P, ^\hich l ieathes in every 
pase the most devoted submission to riders, the n>ost derioed 
support of their measures, and the most virident fidminatii' ns 
against the cppcsers of the government- Its s[ iril may b€ 
readily conceived from the following short s[>€cimea ; — 



APPENDIX. 



425 



" It is a tioie ©f day that requires cautious jealousy. Not jealousy of your 
mi^istratea, rr^ for you have given them your conndence • but of those vrh© 
ilaSder their .tvl^iaistration. To be jealous of your rulers Koald be, as if a 
persoa were to ciiooce a bride from ail the beauties of the world, and thea iu- 
stantiy without cause be jealous of her alone, [r^ Vour public characters 
ARE your own choice. VVatch those ungrateful ?=oais, who murmur ahoui taxa- 
tion and oppression, the burdens of government and religion, rrj^ They have 
fellowship with our enemies— they are traitors to God and ciiiistiauity. Be 
jealous of ttiose who declaim against alien and sedition laws ; they probably 
have a hankering for lying and rebellion themselves. In a word, let honest men, 
let the friends of God and humaoity, spurn from their embrace ev^ery man w!io 
trifles wit'i his f^f ler's religiO;!, the hope and salvation of the world, .vho 
alarms weak minds with the designs of government j who discourages luc most 
ibrmiJab'.e means of defence. It was the sword wnich gave con ra2:e to declare 
independence. Such is the present state of human nature, that nothing but 
tiie sword can defend our independence. Never, never while ch :re is a crimsoa 
droo in your hearts will you suffer an armed foe to breathe vour native air. — 
CURSED BE HS TM \ T KEEPSTH B ACK HIS S^VORD FROM BLOOD ; 
LET H'VI THAT H ^TH NOxTE, SELL HIS COAT AND BUY ONE, 
THE CONTEST I DESIRABLE/' 

How shall we account for this raveooiis thirst for blood-— this 
iiivocitioii of the sword — this elaberate defence of the consti- 
tuted authorities— how reconcile it with the paciiic spirit, the 
denuaciations of war, and tlie milis^nant abuse of the adminis- 
tration which are to be found in chapter 56 ? There is only 
one conceivable reason — and that is, when blood was called 
for, it was Freach blood— French blood — French blood that 
was to flow. 

Next I exhibit the Rev. Dr. Osgood. A convention of con- 
gret^c Uional ministers agreed to an address to President Adams, 
in Alay, 1798, which was signed by that gentleman among 
others. I annex a short extract : — 

** We remember Chri>t-s command to forgive and love our most injurious ene' 
mies. But neither the law of Christianity nor of reason requires us (JjP^* ^o pros- 
trate our national iadep-ndence. freedom, property and honour ai tne feet of 
proud, insa^i ible oppressors. Such a prostration would be treason against that 
Beia^ wh "* gav^ us our inestimable privileges, civil and religious, as a sacred de- 
posit, to b^ defendedjaud transmitted to posterity. It would be criminal unfaith- 
fulness and treachery to our country, our children, and the whole human race. 

" The intimate connexion between our civil and christian blessings is alone 
?ufS *ieTit to justify the decided part which the clergy of America have uni- 
formly taken i^T^ in supporting the constituted authorities and political interests 
of their country." 

Next follows the Rev. Jedidiah Morse, whose eloquence and 
sound reasoning " ia oldUn thne^'' cannot fail to excite the ap- 
probation of the reader. The followina: extracts are from a 
sermon delivered by this reverend gentleman. May 9, 1798, 

N n 



42(> THE OLIVE BRANCH, 

*' Oar newspapers teem with slander and pespnal invective and abuse. Cur 
rulers, grown grey, many of them, in the servi-e of their country , who, in the 
various dignified and responsible offices they have fijled. have discharo;td their 
duties with great ability and incorruptible inlesrrity, are yet Eti^rmatized'^coDtimj- 
ally. as unfriendly to the rights and iiberiie? of the* people, and o the tine inter- 
ests of their country. Our government itself, the most perfect, t>3e best admin- 
istered, the least burdrnsome, and most happyfylng to the pe:»ple, of any on 
earth, is yet steadily opposed in all its important measures, and reouiar and 
continual eircrts are made lo '* stop its \^h.eeis." 

" citizens we ought with one heart to cleave to, and support, our own cov- 
ernment It ig a government of our cwn ',oinrrg, and acn ii ij .eied men of 
OQ. own choice , and tnerefore claims our confidenc-e and support, \^■e ougiit o 
repel, with indignation every suggestion and slandcroas intinnation, calcula- 
ted to weaken a just confidence in the rectitude of tf^e intention* ©f our consiiiut- 
ed authorities All siich insinuations, at this ciitical period, proceed from an 
iafiuence hostile to our peace; and, if permitted to have their imendd etFect 
MAY ACCOMPLbH THE PLRPO^r.S OF OUR EIVEMlFR LN OUR 
DlViSlOK, AND THE OVERTHROW OF OUR GOVERNS t?s T. While, 
on tiie one hand, we wou'd avoid passive ^ ence and ron-re^istnnce let n? not 
vibrate into the other extreme, and b.^jieve it a duty to be jealous and suspicious 
4>f every thing wl^ich is done by our rulers. -We thought tiiem lionest men, and. 
friends to their cc.n try, when we elected them into office; and what lis ve they 
since done to forlcit our good opinion ? Let their mea-ures be ex-^mincd with 
candour, and we shall assuredly say, they deserve nell of their country. In this 
moment of our political danger, let us be impressed with this truth— that— 
United we stand— divided we fall." The increasing union among us, and the 
revival and expression of the true American spirit, are tokens for good, and auc^ur 
well in regard to our poiitical interests. 

*' To the unfriendly disposiiiori ^^nd conduct of a foreign power, we rcav ascribe 
the unhappy divisions that have e?xi«=ted arr.ongus, wliich have so greatly'disnnb- 
ed our peace, and threatened the overthrow of our government. Their maxim, 
to which tiiey have strictly and steadily adhered, has been. '* Divide and govern " 
Their too great influence among us has been exerted vigorously, and in coiifoi mity 
to a deep-laid plan, in cherishing p^irty spirit, in vilifying the men we have, bj our 
free sufirsges, elected to adu;inister our constitution ; and have thus endeavored 
to de^troy ^be cor>f;d€nce of the people in the constituted authorities, ard divide 
t*iem from the gov cm e^en t 

A comparison cf these doctrines v,\ih the doctrines and 
practice of the Rev. Messrs. Osgood and Parish in 1812, 181 3, 
iind 1814, as exhibited chap. 56, must excite the most painfu! 
sensations in the mind of every man 'who feels for the honor 
of his species. It is impossible fcr the human mind to conceire 
of a 111^ »re striking contrast — a more deplorable instance of in- 
fatiiatioB and delusion- — or a more awful memorial of, and me- 
mento against, human v\ eakness. 

From the pulpit, I descend to the civil walk- — and submit the 
opinion of Governor Oilman in 1798, in an address to the legis- 
lature, and the echo from both houses. 

Fvcm Governor Gilman^s Speech to tm Legislature of JVcrv Hampshire. 

" Perfection in hum.an affairs is not to be expected : to satisfy every citizen h 
next to impossible ^ but if our system cf national government is generally good ; 
if it is free ; if we have the choice as frequ' ntiy as we wish, of persons to rdmin- 
ister it ; if one of th?=> fundamental and irrevers-ble prinoipiea in a repuhh'c^'r: r-ov- 
ernment, is, that {^7=» a majority shall govern, is it not proper to give a 



APPENDIX. 



427 



^rta suoport to the lav/s and administration of tiich a government, and for ever^ 
cituea ualy to -onsiaer how far CLIAIOR AiVD OFPOSiTiON THERBTO 
iSVi VED OR PROCCRED, OR M\Y liNVlTE OR PROCURE, IN- 
JURIES r ROM AiN Y f ORElGiN NAliOiS i 

Extractfromtheans ver of the Senate to ike above. 

*• Convinced that oar national government is formed on the sur*st basis of l b . 
orty ; that :iie •a^jrjrity oug'it to rule ; taat we have an opportunity, as often 
as we can wi a. i change -and elect ou: ruiers, we view it as tae paiiadiniu of our 
iigiits, and eniiJed tooai drmest support. 

" Altaouglijeaioasy is a iivCiy trait in apolitical character, yet when very 
5crup-jiOasiy exercised towards the adritinistrators of government, it may 
tend to lessen tiie confidenee oi a people in tneir ruiei's — and Vr^ view ;vitli 
regret and indi^uation tiis faction that ctaiuoars for tntj dertrucTion of our peace 
and government, and conceive its only source to be the dregs of succesiive foreign 
anarciiy, oocrauu^ on the weak and vicious." 

Extract from the, answer of the House. 

" As the constitution of the government was framed by the wisest and best 
men, was adopted alter a candid discus iiou, and upon mature deliberation, with- 
out violence or luinalt, it belougs to us to repose proper conadeuce in the officers 
of our own clioice, and wiili[]gly afford erlec ive aid to that government which 
we nave instituted Tor ihe common good. Tiie beneacial effects of the constitu- 
tion of tiie United States have becii generally felt, and acknowledged to be far 
greater than was ai iirst exp-T-cted, x. spirit of inquiry into tiie pi inciples of a 
government and tiie naode oi i:s adminittratioii pertains to a free peeopie : But 
Q-T^ 7vhen th'd spirit becomes intemperate, and its -.esigos are rTi^ i O PRO- 
MO fE OPPO? iTiUiV, o Divide and weake.v the govern- 
MEiV r. I T M\Y embolden FOREIGN POWERS TO INVADE OUR 
RiGHrS. and embarrass the measures necessary to obtaiyi redress. Wherever 
such a restless, uneasy temper appeal's, we will lend our firmest aid to discourage 
&nd correct it." 

I might extend the subject very far. But I trust I have 
" ?nad€ out my case,'' cosiipletely, nnd that it would be extreme 
supererogation to enter into any further detail.^ 

CHAPTEP^ LXXin. 

View of the prosperity of the United States, during- (he r axiom 
admimstrcUions, Mighty errors prevalent on this topic, 

A VERY large portion of our citizens have imbibed a deep and 
rooted impression, that iVom the period when the admimstra- 
tion of tlie general goveroQient was withdrawn from the hand^ 
of the federalists, and placed in those of their political oppo- 
nents, the prosperity of the nation began rapidly to decay. 

* Some of the extracts in this chapter and in the 5 jth, are taken from an excel- 
lent little pamphlet, published in New-Hampshire, and entitled, An addres? 
to the clergy of Ncw-Euglaud. on tueir opposition to the rulers of the United 
'itates. By a Layman. 



428 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



They believe that during the presidency of General Wasiiing. 
ton and of Mr* Adt ms, porticulariy the forn'er, our poii ileal 
and ccmmerciai sun had ascended to its meridian hekht ; that 
even previous to the embargo and restrictive system general) 
it had, uniier the adminir3tratiou of Mr. Jetleison, descended to- 
/^vards the horizon; that those measures sunk it lar heiow, 
V. hence it is never to rise, till the pcvrcrs cf the general govern- 
Bfieiit, le^isla ive and executive, are restored to the ginuifie 
sons of Wmhmgton^^ — nurtured in his bosom — formed in Lis 
schooir—ioiLued with his maxims — and deiermineu to tread in 
liis footsteps, and to follow his illustrious exampie. 

The universal prevalence of these opinions among tlje feder- 
♦ alisis of this country, will hardly l e control eried. I doubt 
ivhether there is a man among them, from the highest grade of 
iHielket (Jovn to the opposite extreme, v;ho does not regard it 
as hr perl iiienee and presumption to call them in question. And 
^he prevrJence of the impression is not wonderful. I'i e asser- 
iio^is have l;een so often repeated, with so much confidence, 
and in so many shapes and forms, that it was not in humian na- 
ture for the federalists to withhold assent. It is a well known 
property of mankind to lend an easy assent to those opinions 
that flatter cur vanKy, oirer incej se to our pride, tend to pro- 
mote our interests, or to gratify our ambition. 

The prevalence of these opinions has produced most delete* 
lious consequences. It has emliittered leliow citizens against 
each other with the most virulent animosity, j'he federalists, 
persuaded that their antagonists have impaired the honor, and 
liapp-ineEs, and prosi-eritj of our ccmimon country, have regard- 
, €d them with sentiments of rancour, and haired, and disgust. 
And if their views of the e^ se were correct, their opponents 
"would be fit objects of those hostile feelings. It would be \iiud- 
able to strain every nerve to expel from power men whose 
^vhole course liad proved them unworthy cf it. The Fngry 
passions raginf^: on one side enkindle *heir likeness in tlie 
breasts of their opponepts, who are deei^ly ex^^sperated at the 
injustice they 1 elieve themselves to have experienced from 
their adversaries. This is perfectly natural. And time, which 
in all common cases possesses ^he property of diminishing the 
force of passion, is unfortunate] J de-jrived of this salutary prower, 
by the zeal and activity cf those who i^nd an interest in foment- 
ing puliic discord. And that there a»e mmy of 05ir cUlzens of 
this description, possessed ef great talents, great industry, and 
great influence, cannot be denied. 



if the aiiecrationB against the democratic administrations were 
i?.ue, * should rnosi lieariily and cordially pray for a change of 
our raiers. 1 am not in love vvi(h ruin or disgrace. And far 
from beiag willing to sscruice the honor, or happiness, or inte- 
rest of a great n dioa for the advantage of a president, vice-pre- 
sident, iml a few secretaries, &;e. &c. there are no ten thousand 
men of eiiher party vf horn I vould for a second put into the 
scale against a fourth part, not to fsiay the whole of the nation. 

I helieve that such are the sentiments of the democrats gen- 
erally I am convinted that if they could be persuaded that 
Mr. Jetfersoii or Mr. Madison had sacrificed the interests or the 
honor of their countrj^ they would uahesitailiigly |>refer Rufus 
Km^, Timothy Pickering, George Cabot, or De Witt ClintoHo 
Perish (he man^ whoever he be, who would olTer up the happi- 
ness of millions to promote the interests or the views of a few ! 

This subject well deserves the most serious consideration. 
It will dm;)ly repay the time bestowed on it by me and my 
readers. If the opinions, which I have stated, be correct, they 
ought to be as generally {)romulgated as |)ossible ; no pains nor 
exertions ought to be spared in order to illuminate the minds of 
those uho disbelieve them. If they be erroneous, the sooner 
and m >re completely they are detected, exposed, and consign- 
ed hj the tomb of (he Gapuiets," the better. And ! trust there 
is no apri«:ht, candid federalist, that would wish the eievatioa 
or the in^aence of his party to be promoted or perpetuated by 
the prevalence of error. He would scorn to be wafted to power 
by the unhallowed means of delusion. 

This chapter I regard as the most important in the Bookj 
multifarious as are its contents. 

The chief criteria, whereby to decide upon the decay or 
prosperity of nations, may bej[;educed to six heads. 

1. Domestic industry and improvements in all their variou;^ 
branches. 

2. Population — whether stationaryj in^reasiDgj or decrea^^ 
ing. 

3. Foreign commerce. 

4. Increase or decrease of revemie. 

5. Discharge or accumulation of debtg. 
6v Navigation. 

I shall slightly touch on each of the^e, 

Nn2 



430 



THE OLIVE B«ANCn. 



Sect. I. Domestic industry and improveiiients. 

The nrst item, which is the most importaat, and embracing 
by far the greatest sum of human happiness, does not afford 
those marked and decisive documents or data, that the custom 
houses and other public offices furnish for the remaining five. 
The progress of national industry sheds its beneficent influence 
around without glare or ostentation. Hamlets become villages- 
Tillages become towns — towns become cities — cities double 
their population and almost unobserved. There are few or no 
documents to establish the facts, They are yet on due investi- 
gation tangible and strikingly visible. Nevertheless, from tlie 
extreme scarcity of data or documents, I was almost wholly 
discouraged from entering on the subject, and disposed to appeal 
to the reader's personal observations for the rapid advances of 
domestic industry, and the general improvement of (he country. 
But I have judged it better to avail myself of the few I have, 
which are gleaned from Blodget's Economica, than pass the 
subject over in sileace. They are principally estimates, and 
cannot therefore be supposed to be entirely correct. But (hey 
are sufficient to answer the purposes of comparison; which is 

Acres— 9,600.000 
10.500.000 
11,400,000 

Acres— 9,50l> 

9,900,000 
10,330,000 

Acres-— 35,600,000 
37,400,000 
S9, 400,000 
S9,990,OoO 

$5,60 

6,25 

990.000 
1,070.000 

i.eoo.ooo 
i,soo;ooe 

£.2£0,00e 
£,'500,000 
£,950,00i!> 

s.,2o.;-,oo# 

10,000,000 
11.000,000 
14.000,000 
18,000,000 



all the object I have in view. 

1. In tillage— 1797 

1801 

1805 

Meadows & fallow grounds- 1797 

1801 
1805 

3. Total improved lands^ — 1797 

1301 
1805 
1807 

4. "Value of cultivated ) 1801 

lands per acre — 5 

1805 

5. Horses — 1T97 

1801 
1805 
1807 

6. Horned Cattle— 1797 

1801 
1805 
1807 

7. Banknotes in circulation — 1797 

1801 
1804 
1807 



APPENDIX. 



43] 



&. Metallic meaium— 1797 16,000,000 

1801 i7,oGaooa 

1304 17,500,000 

1806 18,500,000 

1807 20,000,000' 

9. Valuation of real and? ^^^^ £,190,50^3,000 

personal estate — 3 ^ > ? 

1801 >2,430,500,000 

1804 2,502.000,000 

1807 ' 2,518,00.;»000 

• 

J^o, CapitaF Stock. 

10. Toll bridges— 1797 15 $1,100,000 

1801 25 l,86u,000 

1804 SO 2,000,0Cf^ 
1807 48 

1!. Turnpikes and Caaals— 1797 25 2,300,000 

1801 S3 3,050,000 

1805 4a 4,900,000 
1807 82 

'i2. Insurance Companies— 1797 9 3,.SOO,000 

, 1801 22 6,000,000 

1804 40 10.000,000 
1807 17,000,000 

15. Banks— 1797 25 19,200,000 

1801 31 22,400,000 

1805 39 39,500,000 
1807 86 50,000,00# 

1 4. Cash ift the Treasury— 1797 888 «98 

1801 3,295,391 

1803 4,824,821 

1806 4,538,105 
m 1807 9,643,842 

15. Custom-house bonds— 1797 10,405,091 

1801 15,237,527 

1803 12,317.449 

1806 19,553,890 



Of the above items, the first nine are, as I have staled, merely 
estimates. From the nature of the case, tiiey could not be oth- 
erwise. But they afford tolerable data for calculaiieas and com- 
parisons of the advancement of the prosperity of the country. 
The other items, the toll bridges, turnpikes and canals, insuraace 
companies, banks, cash in the treasury, and custora-huuse bonds, 
were derived from actual documents, procured by the unwea« 
ried exertions of the author of the Economica. 

Section II. Population, 
The statements I shall give on this point are extracted from 
the census of 1800, the last year of the admiaistratioa of the fed- 



4B2 



Ti-IE OLIVE ERANCE. 



era! parly, and that of 1810, when tiieir successors had held the 
reiiiB of goveromeoi for ten years, during which the pernicious 
eflecis, so generally ascribed to their system, must have had am- 
ple lime to deveiope ihemseives. 



Fopulatlon of Maine 
Yennont 
Kevvliainpshire 
Mabsach 11 setts 
Connecticut 
Kew York 
J^ew Jersey 
Fe:^nsyivania 
Y'ii-ginia 
North Carolina 
South Carolina 
Geora,ia 
Kentucky 
Tennessee 
Cihio 

City of New York 
City of Philadeljihia 

and liberties 
City of Baltimore 
Town of Boston and 

of Suffolk county 
?^ewport 
Providence 
I^anUicket 
Portsmouth, N. H. 
Newhaven, 
Pittsburg 

Here are most iocootrovertible proofs of the advancement of 
ihe Ur?ited States in the road to happiness and prosperity. Eve- 
ry part of the union whieh did not labor under disadvanlages 
from its crowded population, or its sterility, or the migration of 
its citizens, has made rapid strides in this glorious course* — • 
What a stupendous increase in the states of !New-York, Penn- 
sylvania, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio! With 
ivhat ioeffabfe delight must every friend of his species contem- 
plate these glorious scenes of expanding population, civilizalioii, 
and happiness ! Agriculture, arts, manufactures, commerce, and 
science, spreading their holy empire where ^ few years past the 
wild savage prowled in quest of prey I 




1800. 

151,719 
154,465 
183,858 
42£,845 
251,002 
586,0^0 

60^^.535 
886,149 
47B405 
S45,591 
162.G86 
2£0,959 
105,602 
45,365 
60,529 

6T,811 

26,614 




28,015 



6,TS9 
7,614 
5,617 
5,339 
4,049 
1,565 



1810v 

22GJ05 
217,895 
214.460 
472.040 
• 264,942. 
959,049 
945.562 
810.091 
974,622 
555,500 
41 5 , i 1 5 
25£,i33 
40-,511 
261,727 
530,760 
96, 673 

88,987 

35,583 

34,381 

7.907 
10,071 
6,807 
6.934 
6,967 
4,768 



APPENDIX. 



433 



Section HI. Fordgn commerce, 

I proceed to the third criteiiosi of riaiioaai prosperity. And 
here the documents are full, compiete and ii resistible. They de- 
serve, and I hope will receive, the most particular atiention. 

The federal governmeal was oigamzed and went into opera- 
tiouinl789. ISTo tables of exports were however published 
for that or the succeediog year. They began in 3 791. lam 
iherefoie liaiiied to six years of Geoerai Washington's adminis- 
tratioD. 

Let it be observed, that from 1791 ^ill 1802 inclusively, there 
was no discrimination in the olBclai tables of exporis of Ameri- 
can productions and manufaciures, irom djose ioreign articles 
which were re-exported f;om this couotiy. This ressdeis the 
comparison less complete man it would otherwise have been. 

Exports from the United States^ domestic and foreign. 



President Washington 



Fresident Adams 



Presitlent Jeiferson 



lP?€sident Madison 



1791 


19,01t?,000 


1792^ 


2O,7jS,0l^0 


1793 


£6,la9,O00 


1794 


33,0:26,000 


1795 


47,9^.9,000 


1796 


67,064,000 


1797 


56,850,000 


1798 


61,^27,000 


1799 


78,665 000 


1800 


70,971,000 


1801 


94,115.000 


180^ 


7^,483.000 


1803 


55,800,000 


1804 


77,690,000 


1805 


95,566,000 


1806 


101.536.000 


1807 


10B.S43,DiX) 


1808 


22,430,000 


1809 


52,203,000 


1810 


65,757,000 


1811 


6.1,376 000 


181^ 


38.527.000 


1813 


27,855,000 



59,765,000 



174,188,000 



268,013,000 



300,097,000 



327,875,000 



246,718,000 



434 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



Exportation of American productions and tnamifaciures, 
Fresklent Jefferson. 



President Madison. 



1803 


42,205,000 


1804 


41,467,000 


1805 


42,387,000 


1806 


41,253,000 


\mi 


4l;,699,000 


1808 


9.433,000 


1809 


31,405,000 


1810 


42,36b,00Q 


nil 


45,294,000 


1812 


32,658,000 


1813 


25,008,000 



225.444,000 



lT6,T3t,00O 



Annual average cf American exports^ foreign and domestic. 



1. IK] ring the presidency of General Washington 

2. During that of ivr*-. Adams 
For the whole of o^eneral Washington's and 31r. 

Adams' presidency 

4. During Mr. son's first period 

5. Diii'ing his second, ineluding a year of embargo 

6. For his whole term 

7. During Mr. Madison's first five years, including a year 

and a half of war 
8« For Mr. JelFersoa's and Mn Madison's, inclusive ' 



35,500,000 
67,000,000 

51,250,000 

75,000,000 
«1. 900,000 
78,450,000 

49,000,000 
67,200,008 



Average of domestic exports, 

1. During six years of Mr. Jefierson's presidency, 1803 till 

180'^, inck'.sive 

2. During five years of Mr. Madison's 

3/ For eleven years from 1803 to 1813, inclusive 



37,500.000 

35,300,000 
36,500,000 



To the candid reader, desirous to form correct estimates of the 
sfTairs of his country, and to divrst his mind of pernicious er- 
rors, I venture eaitiestly to ricumnitud a careful coDsidef alien 
of !hese tabless. He will ihereb}^ be conviDced thai till France and 
Eorriand ced their disgi acciul and noparallelcd course of 

rapine and devaslaticn " preying on the unprotected ccnimerce 
of a fiieodiy power," the United States tn ;de as rapid progress 
in the career of prosperity nrid happhi^^.s?, fiom the year 1801 tili 
1807, so far as respects foreigo commereej as any naiion io the 
M orid has ever done. 



APPENDIX. 



435 



. Section iV. Revenue. 

The fourth criterion whereby to test the progress of the pros- 
periiy oi the United States, is ihe sii nation of its revenues. J)e« 
€a> and de€repiiune are incompHtibte whh their increase or ctd- 
TaiiCtuient. I shall theiefofe state the nett amount of the im- 
pos of the United Siates from 1791 to 1812, inclusive, taken 
from Vug official documents submitted to Congress by Joseph 
Kourse, esquire, register general, in pursuance of the order of 
ihe house of repres( nlaiives. Of the direci taxes I have not a 
statemeul — but they are uo( ssenlial in the formation of a compa- 
rison. 



President Washington. 1791 6,534,263 

1792 4,614,924 



1793 6,073,512 

1794 6,683,313 

1795 7,959,409 

1796 7,368,120 



11,149,187 



Pi-esideut Adams. ' 1797 8,258,111 

1798 6,192,447 

1799 9,035,348 

1800 9,351,346 



28,084,354 



Fresident Jefferson. 1801 13,362,702 

1802 8,327,260 

1803 11,322,427 

1804 14,996,965 



J2,837,25£ 



l^resident JeitersoB. 1805 14,978,880 

1806 16,015,317 

1807 16,492,889 

1808 7,1T6,985 



48,009,354 



^4,664,071 



President Madison. 1809 7,138,676 

1810 12,756,831 

1811 7,888,863 

1812 13,059,8^5 

.m 40,844,225 

This table requires bu^ little examination. It is decisive and 
overwhelming — ;d of itself would fullj suffice to settle this 
question. I subjoin the result : 

Average duties on imports, 

1. General Wasbington's presidency, six years, 6,500,000 

2. Mr. Adarii^'s four years, 8,200,C.0O 

3. Genera! Washington's and Mr. Adams's, ten years, 7,200,000 

4. Mr. JeiFerson's first period of service, four years, 12,000 000 

5. do. second period, four years, 13,650,000 



436 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



6. Mr. Madison's first period, 

T. Mr. Jeffer&on's and Mr. Madison's twelve yeai*?, 



11,9j6,UOO 



It "W'ere needless to add comments. The most superficial 
reader cannoi niietake — ihe most piejudictd dare noi rejtct iht 
EtioDg aod iiresislibie evideuce here laid before the public. 

Section V. Navigation* 

The increase or decrea e of the tonnage of a commercial na- 
tion is an important ciiierioD of the retrugradaiion or ihe advarfce- 
meni of its prosperity. Lei us calmly enquire into the indicatit ns 
deducible from ihis source. 

I lay before the reader a table of the lonorge of the United 
Stales from 1793 till 1812 iiiclusive. 



Fiesidenl Wa=bington. 



President Adam?. 



Fresideni Jefferson. 



1793 
17?4 
1795 
1796 

1797 
1798 
1799 
1800 

1801 

1802 

leos 

1804 



Tons. 
491,789 
628.415 
747.961 
831,197 

. 2,700.06-^ 

876,910 
888,5:26 
946,407 
973,489 



1,032,216 
892,102 
949,171 

1,042,402 



President Jeffersea. 



Fresi^eat Madisou. 



1805 l.l40,36fi 

1BG6 1,208,733 

1807 1,268.545 

1808 1,242.443 

1809 1.350,178 

1810 1.44^.781 
•1811 1,414.770 

1812 1,232.502 



Average tonnajs:* of lact fotir years of General 

Washington'!? presidency, 
of Mr. Adams's 

of General Washington's and Mr. Adams's 

of Mr. Jefferson's eight years, 

of ^Ir. Madison's nrst period, 

of Mr. Jeflferson'? and Mr. Madison's, 



3,685, 13e 



3,915,891 



4,860,08- 



5,440,531 

675,000 
921.000 
798.000 
1,097.000 
1,355.000 
1^^7,000 



APPENDIXo 



45? 



I trust that these statements cannot fail to prove the utmost 
want of foundation of the idea that the prosperity of the United 
Slates so far as respects navigation, has decayed since the chant^e 
of rulers. I^otwithstandiog the unprecedented depredations per- 
petrated on us by both belligerents, the tonnage of the nation in- 
creased with a steady pace. The increase during the first period 
of Mr. Madison's administration, is really astonishing. 



Section VI. National Debts, 

The next criterion of the decay or prosperity of a nation 
is its debts. It is self-evident that a nation or an individual* 
whose debts are rapidly discharging, cannot be in a state of de- 
cay or depreciation. In order, therefore, to enable the reader to 
decide the question at issue by this criterion, I subjoin a staieirent 
of the national debt of the United States, oa ihe first day of everv 
year from 1791 till 1813. ^ 

Ffesident Washington. 1791 T5,463,476 

1T92 77,^27,924 

1793 80,-{52,634 

1794 78,427,404 

1795 80,747,587 

1796 83,762,172 

Fresident Adams. 1797 82,064, 47S 

1793 79,228,529 

1799 78,408,669 

1800 82,976,204 . 

President Jefferff&B, 1801 83,038,050^ 

1802 80,712,632 

1803 77,054,686 

1804 86,427,120 

1805 82,312,150 

1806 75,723,270 
1867 69,218,398 
1808 65,19^,317 

President Madison. I809 '157,023,192 

1810 53,172,302 

1811 47,913.756 

1812 45,120,150 

TT Q??' ^ exhilirating view of the situation of the 
t mted btates, and proves the utter fallacy of the nvev^vlins: 
opinions on thi. topic. In twelve years of democratic admia^ 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



islr tion, from 1801 to 1812, inclusive, the debt wag reduced 
from 83 038,v;60 

to 45,120,130 
no,t\vi(listaiiding the purchase of Loui- 

^ siana for ^ 15,000,000 

^vhich Is an actual feduciion of l»> 52,91 7, l>00 

And to increase our sur[jrise and our rapturous jo^ at such 
a glorious view ot the immense resources oi oua bitssed coun- 
try, one of the early measures cl Mr. Jelfersoi 's ddminisvra- 
tion was the repeal of a catalogue of bunientonit taxes. 

Among the wonderful and inexplica le comj la nis and li- 
bels against the democratic administration was the re| e.tJ of 
these taxes ! it is the fisst time, in ihe hisiorv of the woiid, 
that the repeal of grinding, harassing and degrading taxes was 
considered as matter of accusation, or as an unpopular meas- 
ure. 

The taxes repealed, were— 1. Excise on stills and domestic 
distilled spirits. 2. On refined sugar. 3. On licences to re- 
tailers. 4. Duties on pleasui able carriages. 5. btaUips. 

In home of the late very elaborate pubiications of ]\h. Pick- 
ering, in which he employed his u.most talents and in^ uence 
to dissuade his felloH citizens f cm subscribing to the ^<Ar;n- 
meut loans, a principal araismeiit wa deducet, from the ^\icked- 
ness of the repeal o{ these taxes, .^nd xht Bartiord coj \en- 
tion, after drawing the most c farming picture of the hideous 
state of public atfairs, in enumeiating ilie means u hereby 

A higli state of public prosperity has Vindergone a miferabie and afflicting 
reverse through the prevalence of a weak and protiigate policy," 

Expressly state as the fourih cause~ 

'The abolition of existing taxes, requisite to prtpsre thf co'.n ^ry for those 
ch ' £e? to which nations are aivrays exposed^ wit i i. view U. the acc^ui iiion of 
jpopular favor.^' 

i shall not attempt to decide^] leave tiiat task \( the mem- 
bers of the Bartford convenaon — with what proi riety in 1 e- 
eember, i834, the distress *or difr cully, or enabams ment, or 
decay of the United Sta es, real or |>reteD,ded, could be ascrib- 
ed to the repeal, in 1802, of taxe^, ^ome of ihem most odious, 
mhen such m the interim had been the eiverflow nk state of the 
lieBsnry, that the public debt had been reduced 37,917,900 dol- 
lars, exclusive of the purchase of Louisiana. This is a most 
'Extraordinary paradox. 

I dare fl?jtier myself with the hojpe that I have presented suf- 
gciem materials to the readei, to satisfy him thai the glowing 



APPENDIX, 



4m 



statements of the extraordiaarj prosperity of this country dur- 
ing Vaii predominance of federalism, and of its utter decay from 
a change of rulers, are gross errors, utterly void of foundation, 
and pregnant with as pernicious consequences, as most that 
have ever prevailed in this or perhaps in any other nation.— 
The nation, previous to the operation of tiie federal govern^ 
meat, was in the most prostrate and abject state. Arts, tr ides, 
and com ndrce languished. Industry had little or no encour- 
agement Tender laws and other measures, impoli ic and un- 
just, had banished couhdence between man and man. An un- 
favorable balance of trade had exhausted the country of its 
m -tallic medium. The states were hostile to and jealous of 
each other. In a word, affairs, for want of a general control- 
ling government, had gone on from bad to ivorse, till good men 
began to doubt whether in its cons^^quences the revolution 
would deserve to be styled a blessing. 

But tile establishment of our most noble and most excellent 
form of government, worked a rapid and incredible change.— 
Coniidence was completely restored. Arts, trade and com» 
merce revived. State jealousy was disarmed of all its powers 
to retard or destroy public prosperity. In a word, the happi- 
ness and prosperi y of the nation were fixed on ftjundations as 
durable, I hope, as the rock of Gibraltar. 

But it is «quany and undeniably true, that the country was 
infcompapabty more prosperous for seven entire years of MTr 
Jefferson's administration, than during the administration of 
his predecessors. This is a truth, a strong truth, deny it who 
may, which, if I courted popularity, I should not dare to pro- 
mulgate. To many it will appear little short of blasphemy.— 
But whatever may be its appearance, and however unpopular it 
may be, I have fully proved, that during those seven years, the 
population, the exports, the revenues, the tonnage, and the do- 
mestic industry of the nation, made more progress than they 
had done during the administration of General Washington ; 
and that the debt was redufted with unparalleled rapidiiy. And 
it therefore incontrovertibly appears that the country was more 
prosperous during that period than under the general's adminis- 
tration, althoagh it had then been highly prosperous. 

I trust I entertain a due sense of thd transcendant merits of 
General Washingtouo He was indisputably a truly great and 
most illustrious character. His conduct during the revolution, 
earned him a conspicuous niche among the small but glorious 
band of heroes who saved their country, or who sacrificed their 
lives in the glorious struggle to save her. He ranks with Leo- 
nidas of. SparJia, Epaminondas^^ of Thebes^ Clmon of Athens^ 



440 



THE OLIYE BRANCH. 



Alfred of England, Wallace cf Scotland, Henry BonrLou of 
France, Brian Boiromhe of Ireland, the Dutch Prince of Or- 
ange,* Gustavus Vasa of Svvedtn, Andrew Doria of Geno?^, 
and others oi this description, who hold the first rank among 
the benefactors of the human race. And to those who read the 
statements or liie ^Tretched niateiials with which had to torm 
bis armies, as may be seen chapter 68, his merits will be vastly 
enhanced. Tlie miserable system pursued by the early con- 
gresses, of trusting the fate of the country to short enlistments 
and to militia, trebled his difficuUies, and trebled his merits in 
struggling against and overcoming them. 

Besides General Washingion's services during the war, he 
Vins eminently useful to his country afterwards. I feel per- 
suaded I hat but for the inlluence (Tf his name, ihe federal con- 
vention would never have agreed on a constitution. Of this, it is 
true, 1 have no proot — nor is it fully susceptible of proof. It 
aoust e-.ernally rest as mere opinion. But any man who atten- 
tively reads Luther Martin's statement of the proceedings of 
the coriventi(m, (the only [)ublished record) and who duly con- 
siders the dirlicuKy they experienced to agree upon a form of 
government — r^r^d how nearly all their eiforls escajied being 
blasted: even with the advantages of General Washington's in- 
Ouence and exertions, will not regard my opinion as very ex- 
travagant. But I force it on no man. I further believe, tliat 
even after the constitution was promulgated, the iiiSuence of 
his name and support was absolutely necessary to ensure it r^c- 
cess. It was in great jeopardy. The minorities in several of 
the state conventions v. ere numerous, active, and influential. — 
There was. therefore, considerable difficulty in setting tiie ma- 
chinery of the government in motion. It was a truly arduous 
task. But when once the vessel was fairly launched, the du- 
ties of the pilot were quite easy. 

With this immense and solid stock of inilisputable claim ca 
the c^ratitude of his couutrv, and on the esteem and admiration 
of the great and good of our era Snd of all future ages, he needs 
not any addition to his fame, of which the title is not as clear 
as the noon-day sun. And to ascribe to him, or his councils, 
exclusively, the flood of prosperity that succeeded the estate 
lishment -of a solid form of government, would be a radical er- 
ror a2;ainst the truth 4^f historv. As well mi^ht we ascribe the 
fertility of the soil, when both seasons and climate are favora- 
ble, to the vigilance of the steward who superintended the 
plantation, as ascribe the beneficent effects of unshackled and 



* The deliverer of Hollaud from Pliilip H. 



APPENDIX. 441 

protected iL< a.. feiry, to presidents, governors, or kings. All that 
maiikiad reqair'% in order to be industrious and happy, is to 
have their property secure. And this is the natural effect of 
wise laws. 

If the nations of Europe, oppressed by wasteful and destroy- 
ing governaients— at war forty or fifty years cut of every cen- 
tury — curbed ind constrained and controlled in their industry 
by monopolies, and restrictions, and grinding taxes — if, 1 say, 
Hader ali these and numberless oilier disadvantages, the Euro- 
pean nations make advances in prosperity, as is undeniably 
the case, would it ii»tbe inexpressibly vronderful, if we did not 
run rapidly in the same careei— if we did not outstrip them as 
far as the hale, hearty, vigorous, full-blooded racer outstrips the 
stage horse, wore out by hard service and merciless usage ? 

A ship is, in the technichai sense, well found in every res- 
pect. She has a noble crew. She is in the open sea. The 
wiads are perfectly favorable. She runs rapidly before them. 
She makes nice, ten, or eleven knots an hour. She reaches 
her destined port in perfect safety. Would it not be ignorance 
or toUy to ascribe to the skill of the captain the rapidity of her 
m ivements or the success of her voyage ? It is only when 
the sky is overcast with clouds and darkness — when the furi- 
oas aurricane howls around the ship — when the waves, o;>eniog 
wide their devouring jaws, seem ready to swallow her up, that 
there is a demand fur the energy, the talents, and the fortitude 
of the master of the vessel. 

Wich due respect to presidents, and govern ^rs, and kingSj 
this is a pretty analogous case to theirs* In times of tranquil- 
lity there is little room for a display of the talents of yn exec- 
utive migislrate. In a well-ordered state, the la vs may be said 
to execute themselves. The long train of judges, jurors, attor- 
ney-gener ils, marshals, constables, &c. are eterjeally on the 
alert to prevent infraction. 

It may and will seem a parados f I shall be charged with 
dealing in paradoses) to assert, as I do, that at least as much 
talents are actually necessary for a legislator as, in almost ev- 
ery case, for a governor, and, in ordinary cases, for a presi- 
dent. 

In a free represent^.tive government like ours, the grand, 
eon?*' )Hing, arid superemineat po^. er is in the leiislature. — = 
T.'iey ordain, direct, com n^ad. Their will, fairly e:i'»rps3ed, 
enforees obedience equally from the s-overaor or president, as^ 
from the lowest mendicnnt. If the ^>vQrw\v or pref?! iear, as 
the f,ri3e may bcj dares to vialate their com^misj he is im^ 
peachable, 

Oo2 



442 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



I return to Mr. Jefferson. " But," it will be said, " the pros- 
perity of the United States was arrested during the last year 
of his administration." This I do not, 1 cannot deny. It ap- 
pears fuliy evident from all the documents I have given. — 
Whence arose this stagnation ? This is an important inquiry. 

The application, in 1805, of the rule of the war of 1756, 
liad made great havoc on the trade, commerce, and resources 
of the country. But they readily recovered from the stroke. — 
At the close of 1807, the French decrees and British orders 
in council went into full operation. And they were met by 
©ur embargo. I have already stated, and I hope there is not 
a man of candor in Europe or iWnerica w ho will doubt or de- 
By that these measures of France and England reduced the 
United Slates to the alternative — of war with one or both — or 
else an embargo. We were literally hunted off the ocean. 

That an embargo was less pernicious than war — and that it 
was highly meritorious to try every other means previous to 
the horrible recourse to arms, no friend of peace" can deny. 

But be this as it may, as the arrestation of our prosperity 
arose from the measures of France and England — and as it has 
never been pretended that the American administration advi- 
sed or encouraged these powers to adopt their orders and de- 
crees, it conclusively follows that the outcry agdinst the re- 
strictive system of Mr. Jeffersgn, which these predatory and 
outrageous measures rendered indispensable, is utterly unjust 
and unfounded. 

There is another mode of deciding this question. If the de- 
mocratic administration of the general government really earned 
on hostility against commerce, it had no mode of displaying that 
hostility but by the enaction of anti-commercial law s, or the re- 
peal of pre existing laws favorable to commerce. This is self- 
evident. Except in this shape it was as perfectly powerless 
over commerce as a council of Indians held in a wigwam. And 
if there were any anti commercial laws enacted, tliey must be 
^til! extant. The statute books are every where to be found. 
And I now in the face of the United States and of Christendom, 
challenge any opposer of the administrationto produce a single 
law enacted during the administration of Mr. Jefferson, which 
can by any man of character be ascribed to hostility to com- 
merce. There is net one. Nor was any la*^* favorable to 
commerce repealed. Let the statute books be carefully ex- 
amined, and the laws brought to the severe&t scrutiny. 

It would be most extravagant folly to ascribe the law of 1 80 6, 
prohibiting the importation cf certain articles ef British mcuu- 
facture, to the hostility of the go^ erpnif nt to commerce. This 
law was ea^eted in consequecce of the clamors and remou- 



APPENDIX. 443 

strances of the commercial men themselves, in order to indue© 
England to cease her unjust and injurious depredations upoa 
their commerce. 

We now draw towards a close. We have seen, I repeat, that 
the population, the exports^ the tonnage, the domestic industry, 
and the revenue of the nation, made rapid progress for seven 
years of Mr. Jefferson's administration, and that during the 
same period its debts had most rapidly decreased — and it ap- 
pears that no law hostile to commerce was enacted — no law fa- 
vorable to commerce repealed^ — and that our prosperity contio- 
ued till it was cut up by the roots by foreign powers — and how, 
then, can a candid federalist so far lose sight of justice, or pro- 
priety, or the holy rule, do as you would be done by," as to 
charge to the past or present administration the consequences 
of measures over which they had no controul ? The federalists 
w^ould complain most greivously were they made responsible 
for Mr, Jefferson's or Mr. Madison's measures. And where is 
their justice in making Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Madison responsi^- 
ble for the measures of Mr. Percival or Napoleon Bonaparte ? 

If I have succeeded to the extent of my wishes, and indeed 
of my expectations, to establish the positions I have laid dowa 
in this chapter, I cannot fail to have rendered a great and last- 
ing service to my fellow-citizens of both descriptions, federcil- 
ists and democrats. 

The former I shall have convinced of the unsoundness of 
their towering pretensions to an exclusive promotion of the 
prosperity of this nation, as well as of the extreme injustice 
of the strong and damning accusations they have~ preferred 
against, and the deadly hostility they have borne towards, their 
feliow-citizens, w^ho are wholly guiltless of the crimes laid ta 
their ©harge. These are important truths, deserving of their 
most serious consideration. To pursue a course of error, 
merely because it has been unfortunately commenced through 
inadvertence, is worse than folly. To retract error ismagnan^ 
imous. These considerations ought to induce them to lower 
their tone, and to regard their brethren w ith more kindness and 
charity than they have heretofore extended to them. 

There is one point which cannot be too much or too fre- 
quently enforced. The federalists have been divested of the 
powers of the general government for thirteen years and up- 
wards. That entire period they have spent in an unceasing 
struggle to regain the power they had lost. They have spared 
neither pains nor expense. They possess large numbers of 
men of powerful talents, which are in constant requisition for 
the purpose.^ They have greatly the superiority of newspa- 
pers in perhaps all the seaport towns, owing to mercantile iia- 



444 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



daeiice.'^ They have sti"Mo;gIed in peace — ihey have struo!;led 
in .war. Thev have strusciilcd when the nation hartllv felt tax- 
ation— they have struggled when it was uader the -'ressure of 
taxes of the most oppressive kind. They have struggled whi]e 
we wereccvered with disgrace, and overwhelmed by disas.er — 
and they have struggled when a halo of glory snnomided (he 
nation. They have struggled under every possible variety of 
circumstances. They have left nothing unes&ayed. In tjiis 
struggle, the country was brought to the jaws oi perdition. In 
this struggle their beloved were placed in the morufying prer 
dicament that their views were likely to prosper by the deteat 
and disgrace — and to be utterly disa{)pointed by the succi ss 
of their country. And in this struggle, some of their leaders 
committed acts in aiding and abetting the enemy, which, un- 
der any other government, or in any oiher nation, would have 
forfeited their lives. After all these struggles and efforts, (hey 
are as far as ever from the attainment of the prize which they 
have for thirteen years been devouring with their longing eyes. 

And what has been the result of these efforts ? To engender 
and disseminate a spirit of faction, the direst scourge that ever 
cursed a country — to divide man from man — to demoralize the 
nation — to prepare us of late for civil war and all its hsrro^s — 
to deprive themselves of all the influence their numbers, their 
talents, and their virtues, would have ensured them— and to 
place them in the frightful situation of opposing almost all the 
mensures of the administration, however wise or salutary — how- 
ever well calculated to promote the happiness and glory of their 
©ountr|7^.^ 

It is time to pause — to cast a retrospective eye ©n the past — 
to look forward for the result. A very liltle reflection will suf- 
fice to convince them, that if they regard their hono!>r as a par- 
ty—their character in history — their duty fis citizens— i^nd the 
welfare of their country— a change, a radical change is necessa- 
ly. No man of common sense^ who pays attention to the ex- 
isting cifcumstaiices of the United States, can persuade himself 
that they have any chance of regaining power unless b^^ a con- 
vulsion, of which they would he the earliest &nd greatest suiTer« 
ers, and which ihey would have every reason to curse most bit- 
terly. And surely with the wounds of bleeding, gas.Ding 
Fnince before their eyes — -with her groans in their ears— 
they would not be so mad, so blind, so lost to repson, 
to common sense, to religion, to publ\c sjnrit, <o all re- 
gard for themselves and their coimtay, as. to pursue power 

* In Philadelphia^ there are six federal ai^d two democFaiic papers. The pro= 
portion is about the same m other citieis 



APPENDIX. 



4A5 



through such a desperate road as a convulsion. If they have 
failed to gain ground in the great States of New- York, Penn- 
sylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina, when v/ar, stagnation of 
business, and depreciation of property of every kind, aided their 
efforts to render their adversaries unpopular, is it not " hoping 
against hope," to calculate on producing this effect when smiling 
peace with her cornucopia has once more revisited our favored 
land ? 

Let them take the advice of a political opponent, but a real 
friend. Let them not render a government, whose only real 
defect is its feebleness, still more feel)Ie, and thus endanger iis 
destruction, by a blind and indiscriminate opposition, forbidden 
by ever}^ principle of common sense and patriotism. Let ihetn 
with their utmost energy oppose ?ill impolitic, injurious, or un- 
just measures — but let them yield a cordial and hearty support 
to every measure calculated to promote the public good. This 
is what constitutes a noble and dignified oppostion party. Let 
them, if they choose, use all their efforts to regain the powee 
they have lost, by fair and honorable means. Let them chari* 
tably regard their political adversaries as intending to promote 
the public good, even when they believe them in error. Let 
them make allowance for human imperfection, from which 
they are no more exempt than their antagonists. By this 
course they will make more progress in one year than they have 
in thirteen by intemperate violence. This has recoiled and 
will continue to recoil on themselves. 

If I have in this chapter, done a kindness to the federalists, I 
have performed an equal service to the democrats, by clearing 
up satisfttctorily various points of considerable importance to 
their character. I hope I have fully disproved the heinous 
charges adduced against them, of destroying the prosperity of 
their country -charges which have gained credence even across 
the Atlantic, from their frequent reiteration here. 

CHAPTER LXXIY. 

Miscellaneous facts and oh serv aliens. 

In this chapter I shall collect a number of unconnected facts 
and observations^ which I hav© not been able to introduce elsa- 
where. 



THE OLIVE BRANCH 



I. 

A very moderate degree of knowledge of history or human 
affairs, furnishes numberless instances of the discordance Le- 
tween very plausi'ale anticipations and the actual results on 
which they are predicated 1 offer one. The best fiends of 
this country were aiw^iys disiressed at the probable consequences 
of a w^ar upon the southern states. It was presumed that such a 
state of things would afford a favorable opportunity, which 
would be eagerly embraced by the slaves, to rise upon their 
masters and act over again the horrors of St. Domingo. It was 
not taken into consideration, that a state of war requiring mar- 
tial preparations and arrangements, would greatly add to the fa- 
cility of crushing insurrection, without in the least adding to the 
means of its organization. 

It was also anticipated that the hardy and enterprizing state 
of Massachusetts would shew such a bold front towards an in-- 
vading enemy, as to totally forbid, or at least compel him to 
abandon the attempt. 

The events have falsified both calculations. No insurrection 
was attempted, or perhaps thought of by the slaves. Georgia, 
a feeble soutliern state, acquired a high degree of honor by the 
war* It covered Massachusetts with disgrace. 

II. 

The attempt to impress men from onboard the Chesapeake, 
was not t&e first outrage perpetrated by the British on an Amer- 
ican na?ionil ship. During the administration of Mr. Adams, 
several sailors were, in the West Indies, pressed from on board 
the Baltimore, a public vessel of the United States. 

III. 

Violent partizans have in all ages believed the monstrou3 
doctrine, that the end sanctitieg the means : a doctrine the fruit- 
ful parent of numberless crimes. This frequently leads par- 
ties to adopt measures at which each individual would have 
shuddered. Our country has witnessed various instances of 
this kind. Among the rest, unceasing efforts have been made 
by some of the most zealous and violent of the opposers of the 
administration, to persuade the public that the late war was a 
measure concerted between Bonaparte and our administration, 
and for which the former had paid the latter liberally. The 
following letter, which first appeared in the Boston Centinel, 
was one of the various means employed for this purpose. And 
had the British agents in Paris entered into the project, and 
afforded any countenance to the accusation, it would have gain- 
ed universal credence among the enemies of the administration 
in this country, and might have^'produced serious conseq,uenc€S. 



APPENDIX. 



447 



Teiy much to their creait and to our happiness, they allowed 

it lo Sink into oblivion. 

• IMPORTANT LETTER. 
" The onginal of tho letter from an American gentleman in Paris, of 
which the following is au extract, has be n j-een by the editor, who 
vouches for its having been faithfully copied therefrom : — 

/VWs Mav 26, i8i4. 
*' The treaty is nearly concluded, and we shall orice mt)re see all the 
world ill peace, exceptiijg cur own country — thanks to the wisdom ct the 
democrats and tiie pariizaiis of Bonat.arte I ince the wdv has been de- 
clared, he has not exercised one >iiigle act of amity or friendship, either 
toward the nation or any indi . iduai. Ct is v^ery well known by every 
one here who has conuexi >a with Uie governmer^t, that it uas by brlbtry 
thai ttie vote for ike war ooiained, A gentleman employed in the office of 
the department of foreign aiFair8, toUl me, that he saw on ihe touks he 
names of the senators bribed, and the sums paid each of 1 1, em by Surruritr: I / 
I h )pe in a short time to be abie to procure a copy of it, to send to you. 
The country luas sul l by Armstrong before he ttfi Paris ; and ihe war icas 
deci l i 'Lvoii ; and in consequence he teas made secretary cf war, the better 
io iccmnpii^h the, diabolical sysiem ! I I i hoi^e the events which have taken 
place in Europe will enlij^hten the American people, and shew^ them 
thr^is- true interest ; and that tbfy will have resolution and patriotism 
en i^i-^'li to dismi*;s fron) their coiiiicils men who have so basely betrayed 
their country atid the confidence that was reposed in them by their fel- 
low-citizens. This is the first *»tep towards making an honorable and 
durable peace, which must be the desire of every true Americasi.'' 

This letter was re copied, as a most importdnt document, 
into a large portion of the federal papers 1 

IV. 

French and English Influence. 

The United States have resounded with ihe charge of French 
iniliieace, which I have incidentally touched upon in some of 
the i)recediag pages. Of its existence a large portion of our 
citiaeas are as thoroughly salisned, as of any of (he demon- 
strations ia Euclid. On che subject of British influence there 
is an almost total silence, altboui^h from the sameness of ian- 
gaage, mercantile intercourse, and the powerful efiecis, in our 
cities, of Briiish ca:)ital and British agents it is plhiu and fial- 
prole. On the lith of January, 1814, governor Strong deUv- 
€red in address to the lej^isiature of Massachusetts, in v\hich 
he laid considerable emphasis on a 

Proposal made by the French emperor, that the congress at Prague Fhoald 
be composed of plt^nipotentiaries from France, the United States, D;,-riiLaik. and 
thF other allied princes on the one hand, and the -plenipotentiaries of England, 
Prussia, and their allies on the other." 

From this rn^oposal the worthy scovernor implied " a connex- 
ion .vith Pmnce in the war"— ia otiiec l?VOids ihe hideous hy- 
<ira of " Freucli iuflueace,** 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



While he thus sagaciously discovered French itifluence, or 
French connexions, in a circumstance go utterly unimportant, 
is it not astonishing that he wholly overiooked the extent of 
Briiish injiuence in Boston, the tov»n wherein he wrote this ad- 
dress — and that he was as silent as the grave about the enor- 
mciis supplies of specie ot that very time furnished to the Bri- 
tish nation, then at war \^ith his native coiintry — and about the 
open, undisguised intercourse carried on witli the enemy, and 
the public sales of his government bills ? 

V. 

Forgery of skips* papers. 

In the enumeration of the grievances whereby ihe United 
Stales \^ere driven to war wilh England, little has been said 
on the sulyect of the forgeij of our nnval papers, whereby our 
flag ^^as discredited, tiie British conymerce protected ^nd ex- 
tended at our expense, and our vessels exposed to he indigna- 
tion of the other belligerents, who must in numberless instances 
have found it impossible to discriminate between vessels fitted 
out io England w ith simulated documents, and vessels fiited out 
bona fide in the United States. It is impossible to find an up- 
right tntxn in the world who will not louclly and unhesitatingly 
condemn and execrate such an odious, such a detestable nrac- 
tice. 

Of the existence of this practice no man doubts. But of 
the extent to which it was carried, I believe very few are 
aware. I submit a few documents which will throw light on 
the subject — and leave it then to the reader's reflections. 

Mr. Brougham, member of Parliament for Liverpool, in a 
speech on the subject of the orders in council, read the follow- 
ing circular from a house in Liverpcal, established to carry on 
the manufacture of simulated papers. 

Liverpcol, 

GePitleineD — "We take the liberty herewith to infonu vcu that we b.ave es- 
tablished ourselves ifi this town FOR THE PrRPOSE OF MAKING SIMU- 
LATED PAPERS, which we are enabled to do in a way which will give ample 
satisfaction to oht employers^ not only being in possession of the original docu- 
ments of the shipg' papers, and clearances to various port?, a lift of which we 

annex; but our Mr, G E having worked with his brother. Mr. 

J- — ~ B , in the same line, for the last two years, and understanding all the 

necessary languages 

Of any changes that may occur in the different places on the continent, we 
«tTC careful to have the earliest information, not only from our own connexions, 

bui frora Mr. J F , who has proffered his assisfance in evtry way and 

who has for some time past made simulated papers for Messrs. B and P 

of. this town, to wkom we he^ leave to refer ypu for furttier ictonaatioB. 
*^ We remain, &c.** 



APPENDIX. 



449 



Thea follows a list of about twenty places, from and to which they can forge 
capers, having all the clearances r«ady by them, for the dilferent public agents, 
the moment they reeeive intelligence that any merchant may need their assist- 
ance in this scheme ol fabrication.* 

From the London Merning Chronicle^ June 12, 1812. 

" To ship-brokers, custom-house agents, notaries public, merchants, &c. Sim- 
ulated papers and seals, capital counting-house fixtures, '^0 very excellent and 
exprnsi/e charts and maps, &c.— By Mr. Sampson, at his warehouse, 16 Size 
lane, Bucklersbary, on Thursday next, at 1 1, by direction of the assignees 

The valuable fixtures and fittings up of the counting houses, THiRTV- 
FOUR BOXES COl^TaINING SiMULVFED SHitV PAPERS, AND 
SE\LfiFOR FOREIGN COUNTRIES, various colored inks, foreign writing 
pauer, &c of Mr.' Peter Vrinder, ^ k merchant, a bankrupt, (removed from 
hii' offices. No. 9, Wnter Iqne, Tower-?treet) comprising 7 mahogany I flap and 2 
iiap counting-house de^k , book case, two capital library and writing tables, with 
drawers, st-^mipma and st rdinz presses, a patent instv^-.taneous light machine, an 
excellent mahogany portable writing d-A with secret drawers, two patent poly- 
graphs, several c^plt:^! charts, amonjis' whicn are the .Northern Sea, the Catte- 
g;\-, the Azores, th.- Atlar.tic Ocean, the Baltic Pilot, '^'-'est Indies, British Cban- 
, coasts of Enslaiid and Holland, Mediterranean, Europe, Asia, and Ameri- 
ca, M. rcator's World, L-urie and Whitde's new map of the British isles, on 
spring rollers and boxes, Carey -s universal atla-, a new hdger, journal and waste 
bookrfive volumes of the beauties of Engl-ind and Wales, and 95 numbers of do. 
six morocco leather cases, &c. To be viewed two drjys pr-ceding the sale, at 
the broker's warehouses ^ catah gnes may be had of Messrs Sweet and Stokes, 
solicitors, Bausinghali-street, and of Mr. Sampson, 16, Size lane. Bucklers- 
bury " 

Extract from the speech of Mr. Spoojier, at a meding in Birmingham^ March 

31, 1812. 

The evil that presses stronger upon my mind, as respects the license system, 
is the great degradation it produces in the national character. It is lamentable, 
that a nation, hitherto standiaz high in moral estimation^ anxious to promote 
true knowledge, zealous to spread the principles of pure religion, should thus lay 
itself open to the imputation of forcing a trade by fraud and perjury, and that 
too, under the sanction of government It must seriously aiSict every one zeal- 
ous for the true honor and real interests of his country, that J T HAS BEEN 
ADMITTED IN THE COURT OF AD?vI1RaLTY, THAT UNDER PRES- 
ENF CIRCUMSTANCES IT WAS NECESSARY TO W^NK AT SIMU- 
LATED PAPERS ! ! ! In carrying on thi« trade the captain of the vessel must 
be furnished with irvo sets of papers dutmetrically opposite to each other ^ both of 
rvhich he must swear to be tr ue. He must also srcear at one place that the property 
is British, in another thai it is neutral 



* In Roticing this matt-er in the house of commons, Mr. Stephens, author ef 
" War in disguise," said, " be wmild ask gentlemen sincerely, were they pre- 
pared to abandon all trade to the continent sf Europe, on account of those ob- 
jections in poiTi^ of inorality which had been stated by the lionorable mover? 
[Mr. Brougham.] Ke feit himself perfectly ready to meet any gentleman up©a 
th^s srouud, and he really believed he would find few who had neakness enough 
io ihink^ or hypocrisy enough to assert, thrii the nhole trade cf Europe ought to be 
almndoned on account of the immoruHiy of fraubs necessarily practised in thecar^ 
^•ying it on. ^ As to the forging papers and French cfmsuls' certificates of origin, 
be was convinced that neither this, nor showing /aZ^e colors to the enemy, would 
be supposed so serious an immorality as to make us consent to abandon all oar 
trade." 

Pp 



450 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



-In Liverpool, in the fall of 181 1 ^ the price of forged papers, 

was as follows : ' 

American Kegister, 8 8 

8ea Letter, 2 2 

, Clearance, 2 2 

Bills of ladings with notary's certincate of property, 3 sets, 3 3 

I shall close the subject with the following jucHcicus and lib- 
eral remarks from a London pa[ier upon, and just reprobation 
of, (his vile s} stem, which goes the full length of demoralizing 
the mass of the persons engaged in commerce in any nation 
where it is countenanced. 

From a London Paper, 

" When we hear the accusation of treacherous neutrals daily made against the 
American nation, we ought at least to inquire whether it is just before we give it 
any credence. If however, we as?i*=t her in obtaining this character, ovd reap 
the advantages of the prostitution of her Sag, we ought to be silent. rrj» It ib 
fao uiidoubtf^d fact, and ^'ell known to all concerned in the Baltic ti ooe, that 
Oiost of the Engiif h ship? which have gene to the north of Europe for Xmo ytais 
past, have assumed the American i?ag, and taken nmulated papeis, by wjjch 
they have been permitted to rn entry. The general pi evalence of this practice 
produced a seizure of all the ships under American colors, so that, in i^any in- 
stances, the neutral Ameiican Dierchants t^utlered. It was a subject of remon- 
s^trance b^^ Russia, Denmark, and Sweden, to the Anjerican consuls there, that 
thek neutral flag was thus- unfairly assumed by one of the belligerents. In these 
instances, therefore, we have no right to charge tiie Americans with bad fait]., a 
the adventures were ceiiiraenced and .concluded by English . merchants in Enc 



as 



TI. 

^Upstart pride, 

A Hi 00 g the blots and blen>ishes cf this country, " 
pride''' ranks very high, and produces most ruinous consequent 
ces. 

A man comes to tiie L^nited States as a redempticner. By 
Ms labor for three or four years in a state of servitude, he de- 
frays the expense of his passage, tie afteruards by "saving 
cheese parings and ends of candles^" mi^kes a little money.— 
Be marries a wife, a pers^mage equally exalted with himself. 
They rake and scrape together a few thousand dollars, r.nd 
tlieir ideas expand with their encrnwiis wealth. They have 
four, five, or six sons. And it would be too degrading to stoop 
to make any of *hem a tradesman or mechi^nic. No. They 
must be all marchants — or doctors— or lawyra. Fence we 
are overrun with broken merchants, and hungry doctors f^nd 
lav vers: and hence arises a most ser^oys i?nd ala»minp: evil, 
the removal cf which demands the eSbrts of all the friends of 



APPENDIX. 451 

tlieir countr}^ There are, alas ! thousands of estimable men 
3C I: ered ciiroagb ine llaited States, whose taients and fortuaeB 
woa:d have qualified them fur usefiil memaers of society as 
r.rmers, artists, or tnechciiiics — uut who are actaaily thrown 
a^v'iy to theinseives and the puoiic by being devoted to th^ 
me.'c^ntiie, or legal, or medical profession. ^ 
The mercantile profession bemg extravagantly crowded, the 
competition in oar markets for the productions of the countrj; 
for exportation, enhances the price here. And tlie great com- 
petition of sti-llers in the forerga markets siol^s the price there. 
Taerefjre the operatioa of* this pernicious prejudice, whereby 
on^ e' lssof oar citizens is overstocked, is two fold — its injuri- 
ous e fects ire felt at home and abroad. To this source, in a 
great measure, may be ascribed the extravagant proportion of 
bankruptcies that have taken place among the merchants wt 
this country, for many years. The great number of sea-ports 
in the United States, wherein foreign commerce is carried on, 
creates such a competition in the markets abroad, as must at 
all times subject American commerce to considerable disad^ 
vaat io;e- It is therefore the height of madness to extend or 
increase the difficulty under which our commerce must thug 
constantly and ioevitably labor,, 

VII. 

Maniifachires* 

Many of oar citizens have been led into egregious errors on 
the vital suiiject of the promotion and encouragement of do- 
mestic manufactures, by an outcry which has been raised 
agjinst the manufacturers, that in all cases wherein legal pro- 
tection is afforded them, they take an unjust and ungenerouio 
advantage of the public, and enormously enhance the price of 
their goods, whereby their fellow-citizens are unjustly laid un- 
der heavy contribution. And therefore many of our members 
of congress sagaciously determine to let this useful class of 
men, who do more to establish the true independence of their 
country, than any other, struggle against the multifarious disad- 
vantages under which our infant manufactures labor, in a com- 
petition with the matured and long established manufactures of 
Europe. 

It is not easv to conceive of any more miserable error than' 
this, or that comes with a worse grace from those who propa- 
gate it. Who are they? Merchants, agriculturalists, house- 
o^vners, money lenders, &;c. &g. • 

Let us examine each of these classes seoaratelv, I beo-in 

J. ' ~ 

*?lth> the njerchant. When die imports a cargo of any kiim 



452 



THE OLIVE BRANCH. 



ivhateverj does he regulate the price by the cost ? — does he 
display the disinteredness and seh^-denial which he so eloquent* 
!y preaches up to the mcinufacturer ? Suppose he brings into 
the market an article whose cost is one dollar, but which, injin 
its scarcity and demand, will sell ffir fifty. Does he hesitate 
to require and insist on fifty ? Not an instant. And he would 
bavc^o scruple to demand one hundred, or one thousand, if 
the market would warrant it. Let the merchant, then, never 
/ail against the extortion oi the raanufacturer. Let him im- 
; ose an eternal silence on his tongue, upon this topic, so preg- 
Eant with maleriais for his own condemnation. 

Next in order comes the agriculturalist. And as a large 
portion of the members of our legislative bodies is composed of 
gentlemen of iliis class, the appeal has been strongly and too 
successful y m tde to their passions and prejudices. And they 
freely re-echo the cry begun by the merchants against the pre- 
datory spirit of the nitinufactiirers. They forget the strong pa- 
lable of the mote and the beam. Suppose a farmer to brin^ 
1000 barrels of flour to a cilv in a state of famine. Where are 
then his l>oweis of com|)assion ? "Where his tenderness for his 
auaering fellow men? Where his abhorrence of extortion and 
depredation ? Will he sell his Hour for the customary price ? 
No. No. No. lie takes the guage and measure of the gene- 
ral distress. And in projiortion to the degree of misery, and 
euffering, and starvation that prevails, he fixes his price. 

The owner of houses and lands comes next in turn. And he 
is in the iime predicament with the merchant and agriculturist. 
He miiformiy regulates the rent cf his houses and lands by the 
demand, not by the cost. I have p^id for the use of a house 
for three months during the prevalence of the yellOvV fever, at 
least as much rent as would liave been required for a year. A 
very soialb narrow house in Market street, Philadelphia, which 
could not have cost two thousand dollars, rents for one thou- 
sand dollars per annum. 

On the sulyect of the generosity of the money lender, it is 
Heedless to descant. His tenderness, and mercy, and benevo- 
lence, have so long been the suf ject of celebration and pane* 
gyric by mora! and dramatic v riters, and i^y sermonists, that 
they caniiot have escaped the observation of the most superfi- 
cial. 

If therefore the manufacturers did really increase their profits 
■^'ith the increase of demand, it would not be a just sub]€ct cf 
complaint, with any of the otl>er classes of society, v ho exact- 
ly pursue this plan themselves. But it does not f<>]b>w. th^t a 
rise in the priee of a manufactured article produces an increase 



APPENDIX. 4^3^ 

ot the promts of manufacturer. By no means. Three items 
regulate the price of manufactures — the cost of_ the material— 
the price of lahour — and the pro&t of the manufacturer. Now, 
it is too obvious to require enforcement^ that an increase of de- 
mand always increases the price of the first— and very frequent- 
ly of the second. Let us then suppose, that of a yard of broad- 
cloth, which sells for six dollars, the raw material costs two— 
the labour two— and that the manufacturer has a profit of the 
othsr t .vo. If the demand i^e by any means greatly increased, 
the price of the wool may rise half a dollar — and of the labour 
as mach more. Thus ihe article may be sold at seven dollars— 
and the manufacturer not m.ake more per yard— and less per 
cent, than when he sold at six dollars. This is a random case 
— but sufficient to elucidate the point. 

Against extortion, on the part of manufacturers, the public 
have two good safeguards. One is, the competition among: 
themselves, which is at all times sufficient to prevent impo3ition> 
to any very m:Uerial extent. The other is, the danger of en- 
couraging the European articles, which are always ready to bet 
poured into the country in extravagant quantities, 

Vil!. 

The most odious and oppressive form in which contributions 
can be levied, is, excise. However free the constitution or laws 
of I country may be, those citizens or subjects on whom an ex- 
cise system operates, are, so far as respects the support of gov- 
ernment, in a state of as much oppression as the subjects of the 
veriest desijotism Their houses are liable to domiciliary 
visits— ihe w hole of their business open to the inspection of 
tax-gatherers — they are subject to the necessity of keeping 
th^ir accounts according to rules and orders, with which it 
is .1 ui ist impossible for many of them to comply — and in many 
cases they are liable to pains and penalties for perjury, when 
their indentions are perfectly fair and honorable. And so far 
as respects prot>erty, despotism does not, I believe, exhibit itself 
undf^r a more frightful aspect than this, in any part of Europe. 

That there are cases, nevertheless, in which it is perfectly 
right and proper for government to impose excises, and in 
^fhich it is the duty of the citizens to submit to them cheerful- 
ly, I am 3 ^tisfied. And that the situation of this country, dur- 
ing the last session of congress, when the excise system wa^ 
ad )>i3d, was such as loudly called for and justified it, is, I 
ikinkf equally Gieai% The people should have borne a tax mi 



A5A 



THE OLIVE BRANCH, 



births or funerals,. on the light of heaven, or on the r.ir <]jey 
breathe, rather than submit to an invading enemy. And i 
think it was creditable to the nation, that congress relied so far 
on its patriotism as to risk tbeir popularity on a system so ob- 
noxious, which nothing but dire necessity could justify. 

But when peace was restored — when the merest sciolist io 
political economy must have been perfectly satisfied, that the 
impost would be amply adequate to meet all possible demands 
of government — it was a most unpardonable sin of the demo- 
cratic majority not to repeal this most odious of all the odious 
forms of taxation. To continue the domiciliary visists of ex- 
cisemen—and all the revolting detail of this system, when there 
was so obvisously no necessity for it, and when it could be 
done away without c.ny possible disadvantage, was a gross de- 
reliction of duty on the part of the thirteenth congress — a dis- 
regard of the feelings and just claims of a large portion of their 
fellow-citizens, that cannot fail to ensure them the most unqual- 
ified censure of their constituents. And there is no doubt that 
they had political sins enongh to answer for, without this addi- 
tion to the catalogue. 

IX. 

Fre7ich Decrees — English Orders in Council* 

I have already several times incidentally touched on these 
measures in the course of this work. But I cannot resist the 
temptation once more to raise my feeble voice against them in 
a few concluding observations. 

The history of the whole world may be ransacked in vain to 
find any parallel to these barefaced violations of the law of na- 
tioiis. They alone would be sutScient to stamp the era through 
"^vhich we have passed with disgrace and dishonor. 

Two great nations — or rather tlie governments of two great 
nations— strain every nerve for mutual destruction. For the 
attaiameni of this object, there is a most wanton and prodigal 
sacrifice made of human life and human happiness. Yet in the 
midst of this frightful devastation, they most perfecly accord on 
one i^oint, which is, to depredate on the property of unoffend- 
ing and unprotected neutrals — or, in terms of the Boston mer- 
chants — TO pri.y''— yes, it is to prey upon ike unprcUekd 
property of a friendly power. ^'^ 

This, as I have already stated ^ve or six times, is the lan- 
guf:ii^;e of che merchants of Boston, signed by their committee, 
James Lloyd, George Cabot, David Green, Arnold Welles, 
John CoMn Jones, and T. H. Perkins. If it be offensive, let 
tbese gentlemen answer for the offence. 



APPEJS^DIX. 



455 



What is the meaning of " to prey Dr. Johnson, vi -o is in- 
clisputabie iexicoo:ia|>hieal authority — tells ti e ^vorld — that — 
" to >rey," is neither more nor less, than '* to plunder — io rob.^^ 

Thas it appears that the^^vhole uody ot merchants of the iov^ n 
of Boston, in 180G, |)ublic]y accused the British government of 
plaadering and rohhing^'' ''the nnprotecled property of a 
friendly power." And no man will pretend to deny that the 
" decrees" were of an equally preying^'^ character. 

And what was the palliation of this preying system ? France 
constantly and earnestly protested, that En§;land had begun the 
trade of ''•preying.''' and that she had only foIIo?ved h^r example. 
England with equal vehemence asseverated that the ^'"preying'' 
had begun on the other side of the chanoel. And on this misera- 
ble, contempti'>le pretence, they ''/?r^7/:t/"* upon ximerican pro- 
perty between them, to the amount probably of thirl}- milliong 
of dollars. In a word,it appears that both parties regarded us as 
unable to protect ourselves, and therefore that our commerce 
was lawful "/?rei/," to avail myself once more of the phraseology 
of Mr. Lloyd and his friends. 

It might be thought impossible to add a shaiJe to this odious 
system. But this is an error. The last stroke of the pencil is 
wanted. While each of those nations " preyed'^ upon the law^- 
fal commerce of the United States with her enemy, they carried 
on, in the midst of a rao:ing and devouring war, a traffic with 
each other, erected en the basis of fraud and perjury, a consid- 
erable portion of the materials of w hich traffic arose from the 
American propertj^ ''preyed''^ upon by their cruisers ! ! ! ! ! 

The New-' York merchants prefer an accusation against the 
orders in council, full as strong in substance — but not fjuite so 
plain in style as their Boston brethren. They state that " hav^ 
in-T totally suppressed the external commerce of her e?iemieS: Great 
Britain is counselled to appropriate to herself that of her 
friendsy The term " apvronriate^^ is rather more Chester- 
tieldim than ^'prey,^' But it is, after ail, the same dish, a 
little more nicely garnished. The privateersman v^ho preyed^' 
upon the " unprotected property of a friendly power"^^ merely " ap- 
propriated''' that property to himself. 

That in the whole world a single man who did not profit by 
TiVB system, should be found to justify, or even palliate it. is 
arnvzlag beyend expression. But that American merchants, 
vrh )-;e vital interests and whose country's dearest rights i cut up 
ro \Qd branch, should iiave taken this ground, as we know 
th' iiave done, will to our posterity appear as fabulous and as 
t omaotic as the celebrated story of Don Eellianis of Greece — the 



455 



THE OLiYE BRANCH. 



renowned history of P'^.nsmas, Parismanos, and Parismenides— 
or the delectable tales of Aladdin's wooderful lamp, and Siabad 
the Sailor. 

it Will be asked, vfhj discus this subject now ? what purpose 
can it answer but to anger '^od to irritate — to prevent the wounds 
received and given from cicatrizing ? Ought not these topics to 
be buried in eternal oblivion ? Can this be a proper time for 
such enquiries ? I asiswer, this is tlie lime — the only time. 
What pu r p OS e T* 1 1 i d the discussion have answered during the 
violence and tiubnlence of war ? A period of peace is precisely 
the time to investigate the question, all important to the United 
States, whether the rights of neutral nations are to be held by the 
tenure of the forbeavance, the moderation, the justice, the generos- 
ity of belligerents — a tenure, or a precariousness whereof we have 
bad so many admonitory examples — or whether the rights, the 
sovereignty, tlie trade, the commerce of neutral nations sh-ul be 
treated by belliii:erents with the respect to which they are entitled. 
This is a glorious theme for enlighted men on both sides of the 
Atlantic — woithy of a Milton, a GrotiuSj a PuflendorfF, of ar 
Heorjj a DickinsoD, or a Franklin. 



THE ENB 



INDEX, No. L 



{Thoss arlicks not found in ikis Index, maybe sought far in Ko, II.] 



Adams' Defence of the American Constitutions, tribute to SI 
Administration of Mr. JtiTerson, weakness of 49, ^0 
Aiexander, emperor, his opinion of the justice of the war 254 
Alien and sedition laws, opposition to 43 
Atnerican revolution, barbarities perpetrated in • B6 
American merchants, true policy of 108 
Americans vindicating the outrages of Great Britai^n 133 
Aiuerican impressed sailors scourged for trying to procure redress 20T 
American slaves on board British men of war 223 
A|.'pointQient of Mr. Gallatin as minister impolitic * 58 
Armistice proposed by admiral Warren 54 — rejected by Mr. Ma- 
dison 55— impolicy of the rejection 55 
Armistice proposed by Mr. Madison 56 — rejected by lord Cas- 

tlereagh 56 
Arnold Benedict, treason of 340 
Associations to prevent the success of the loans 305 
Attack on the Chefapeake statement of the l-ii — remarks on 228 
Bank of the United ^ tates, non-renewal of the charter of the 52 
Bankruptcies numerous in the middle and S'Vjthern siates 316, 322 
Baring '^ir Francis purchased 2"20 shares u. the Bank U. S. 54 
Bayard James A. his opinion of the orders iri council 25T 
Bari ig's inquiry into the -^iFects ^ t' the orders in council 129 
Bp* '.in decree not enforced against American vessels for 12 months 121 
Bel IV VTeekly Messenger, defence of America by 192 
B' lke Fra>icis, remarks on 3.S5 
B]i id leading the blind 324 
Blockade of the coast from the Elbe to Brest 120 
Boston has 44 members in the house of representatives of Massa- 
chusetts 419 
Boston i turbulence of 268 
Bovle's (captain)' blockade of the British dominions 121 
Briiish depredations brought oh the tarJs in the senate of the U. S. 109 
British prize? sent into Boston 315 
British depredations, calcnlati -ns of the amount of 252 
British depredations, goy.,^ Plumer's opinions on 254 



45S 



INDEX, No, r. 



British government bills openly advertised for sale in Boston 318 
Bniish de|Jiedati;>DS, mercantile meeting's against 85, 86 — ruin- 
ous conseijaences of 88 
British privateers, horrible picture of the rapacity of 129 
British system towards U. .^tates, impolicy of 354 
Britijjh ministers, indefensible conduct of 364 
Brougham Henry, extract from speech of 356 
Chesapeake, murderous attack on the 111 — indignation excited 

by the in, 114, 116 

Change in the prospects vf the country 31 

Church is in danger, ma^ical effects of the deceptions cry 1T7 

Civil war, danger of 31— endeavors to produce 33 
Classification system, exceUence of 383, 384, 385 — a measure of 

the American revolution 409 
Cobhett, W. reflections of, upon the impressment of American 

seamen 195 
Colonial trade, liberal exposition of the nature of 84 
Comoierceof America ail important to England 353 — extent of 353 
Combination to paraljj-e the government 306 — ruinous consequen- 
ces of 308 — particulars of 315 
Commerce of diiferent parts of the X"'^. States 286 
Combination treasonable to bankrupt the government 307 
Coniiagration at Washington, effects of 63 
Congress, lamentable imbecility of 63, 64 
Consular certificates of origin, a cause of capture 131 
Constitutions of various states, extracts from 38T 
Cor.gress empowered to call out the militia in case of invasion 393 
Copenhagen, flagitious destiuction of 369 
Credulity, wonderful, of faction 136 
Critical situation of the I', states 29 
Dacres captain, address of to the court martial 215 
Dardin's (Amy) horse, proceedings respecting 65 
Danes, Portoeoese a id Swedes impressed on board American ves- 

seis 221 

Davila's history of French civil wars, reference to 31 

Deane Silas, treason of 340 

Debts of ilip. United states, diminution of the 4:37 

Declaration of war against France, motion for rejected 263 

Democrats threatened with vengeance as friends of Bonaparte 424 
Democrats rail at the appointment of judge Jay to negociate with 

liogland 58 

Direct taxes repealed under Mr. JeflTerson's administration 433 

Disaffection tow^ards the government, instances of 30 
Discord, attempts to produce, between the eastern and southern 

states 270 

Domestic improvements and industry, progress of ^30 
Dniies on exports paid by the different states 294, 295, 296 

Duty of the U. States to oppose British pretensions 86 

Eastern states, pret rrsions of, to superiority over southern 274 

Eastern sttUes, character of at various periods 275 

Eastern states, greatly dependent upon the southern 298 

Eahtern states, deeply interested in manufactures ~ 382 

Eaton, general, shamefully treated -^1 



INDEX, No, L 



459 



Eight per cent, loan, opposition to \6 

Enioargo, not duly enforced by Mr. Jefferson 51 

Eiiiit'argo, factious clamor a^-ainst 136 

Eiui3afgo, a wise, prudent and necessary measure 131 

Em oar go, view of 13S 

Embargo, British proclamation invites to violation of 140 
Embargo, comparison of, with acts passed durnig the preceding 

admiiiistrations 143 
Embargo, act to enforce the - 

Embargo, flagrantly violated, 1-41 — repealed 16li 

Embargo, recommended to congress by merchants of New York 171 

English Canaille detest foreigners of all descriptions 337 

Englaiid, magnaniuious example of 338 

.England struggling for her existence, a mere delusion 366 

English outrages, details of 363 

England more ably defended in America than in London, 127 

Er»gland, elaborate defences of IGo 

England carried on with France the trade interdicted to the 

United States ' 253 

Errors of the democratic party 36 

Erskine arrangement, liberal and magnanimous, 172 

Erskine arrangement, loudly and universally applauded ITS 
Erskine arrangement, newspaper extracts respecting 1T9, 180, 181 

Erskine arrangement, analysis of 18S 

Erskine arrangement, cause of its rejection 183 

Erskine, Mr. George Canning's instruction to 185 

Export.* of the United rotates, statement of the A33 

Exports of the United States, increase of SS 
Exports of the United "tates, foreign and domestic, 276 — 
foreign, 2T9 — domestic, 281 — various comparisons of 
the 277, 278, tc. 

Faction, consequences of 36 

Faction deleterious etFects of, respecting impressment 22d 

Federal convention, proceedings in 73 

Federal party, division among _ 79 

Federal constitution, formed with great difficulty 80 

Federal party, their unavailing struggles for pow^r 444 

Federal consiitution, happy consequences -of 439 

Federalist*, erro. s of 7g 

Federalists, address of the author to 344 

Feder.-.lifts pursued tfee policy they reprobated in the cfemocrats 38 
Federalists in [793-4 and 5, friends of order and good government, 534 

F;;re gnei-s, iliiberality of prejudices against " SST 

Foreigners, list of, who supported the cause of America 342 

Foreign commerce, progress of 43S 

Fort Washington, capture of ~ 75 

F.^x's (Charles James) blockade from the Elbe to Brest ^ 120 

France, American injustice to 106 

France, arbanity of — hideous change in its manners 36^ 

Frerich iafluenc^, utter want of foundation of 118, ITT 

Gardiner, Rev. J. S. J. extracts from his political sermons 329 

General gove rnment, wonderful pusillanimity of the 425 

General tickets, extremely partial anc unjust 4lT 
trerrymaaderism, definition and injustice of 413^ 414, 416 



t 

4C0 



INDEX, No. L 



Generosity of natloDS, a nonentity ' 30 

Giiman, governor, extract from his speech 4£6 

Gottenbtirgh, iiegociation at, impolitic 59 

Gordon, lord (jeorge, riots excited by 29 

Great Britain egregiously deceived by her friends '23<j 
Griswold, governor, hisopirion of the conduct of FraHCe 

and England ^'<T 

Guerriere, particalars of the capture of the 215 
Hartiord convention, pronounces a str&ng censure on. the 

repeal of the direct taxes iSS 

Henry, John, statement of the mission of 152 

Hilihouse, Mr. invites to insurrection 151 
Horizon, atrocious case of the 1£2, 135 

Imbecility of the government, reproached of the ^3 

Impressment on board the Baltimore, a national veFsel of TJ. 446 
Imprersment of American reamen, reflections on, 19£ — by H. 

Niles 1,95 
Impressment of American seamen, Mr. Madison's objections to, 

i93— J. €t. Adams's, 194— Horrors of ^03 
Impressment of American seamen, during the administration of 
Gen. Washington, 19T — during that of Mr. Adams, 199 — 

during that of Mr. Jefferson 210 
Impressment of American seamen, contradictory opinions of 

Mr, Pickering respecting the 198, 203 
Impressment of American seamen, various views of 227, 265 266,267 
Insurrection and civil war, easily excited, difficult to suppress 348 
Invocation to war, by Dr. Parish 425 
Ireland and Irishmen, elegant defences of 343-44 
Irishmen and Frenchmen, objects oi jealousy 338 
Irishmen in Pennsylvania line, sufferings and hardships of 338 
Irishmen, zealous in their support of the government 340 
Izard, departure of from Plattsburg, highly injudicious 75 
Jackson, general, exploits of 41 
Jacobin and Jacobiniss>, definition of 335 
Jay's treaty factious opposition to 46 
Jefferson, Thomas, malignant abuse of 173 
King, Cyrus, speech of, on the classification til! 394 
Kine, Rufus, Tote of thanks to, by house of delegates of Mary- 
land 412 
King, "Rufus, conduct of respecting impressnsent 210 
Knox, general, his plan for classification of the militia 410 
Liberality and forbearance of the United States 111 
Listons's Mr. project of a convention respecting deserters, 206 

— objections to 207 

liloyd, James, his opinion of the orders in council 256 
Loans, ruinous dependence upon 

Loans to government, treasonable efforts to prevent the suc- 
cess of ^5 
Lyon, Matthew, severe case of 44 
Machiavelian advice of John Henry 157 
Maryland representation, ure^ual, unjust and oppressive 419 
Massachusetts disgraced by faction, 323 — compared with Ten- 
nessee, 5^4~" and invaded without resi^^tance 324 
Massachusetts has a representative of her black population 378 



INDEX, No. I. 



461 ' 



Massach'jselts, factious and turbulent spirit of 300 

Ma?fac;husetts, repiesentaticii in, veiy ill arranged 418 
W-euibCi's of house of representatives of the 1. states " 

Merchants, character of by ' drauHd Burke 103 

Merchants utter!}' fail to redeem their pledge 105 

Merchants niiseiably mistake their true i oiicy and interests 107 

Meicantile meetings to remonstrate against British depredation 'o5 

Milan decree, atrocious wicked nc^s of the 135 

Miller, i>lr speech of on the cias^if:cation bill 394 

Militia defence, examination of its ethciency 383 

Militia service, right of society to coerce 336^ 
Militia laws of various states, exti acts from 38T, ^38 

M'iitia drafts, oppressive, unequal and unjust -^95 
Militia defence, inefficiency of 397 — General Washington's de- 
nunciations of 399, 4j0, 6iC, 

Minority, inexplicable conduct of the 240 

Money the sinews of war 395 

Monroe and Pinkney's treaty rejected by Mr. Jefferson 46 

Morals, horrible depravation of 313 

Morse, Rev. Jedidiah, extracts from a political sermon of 426 

Morse, Rev. Jedidiah. his exhortation to support government ibid 

Muster books of Moselle and happho £14 

J^avy, democratic opposition to 40 

Nexvf^paper statements erroneous 61 

!Neglect of public opinion, riiinous consequences of 66 
^Newspaper misrepresentations, ruincHi^ consequences of 235, 236 
Nev^burvport pledges itself to resist the govei-nment even unto 

blood 102 
]Sfew Orleans, remarks on the occlusion of 244 
Newspaper denunciations of subscribers to government loans 309 
Non-it tercourse reprobated by democrats 51 — and by federal- 
ists 169, ITO 
Non-importation law, tenor of 110 
Non-intercouse law, view of the 168 
Nortliern grievances, exiract from 34 
O'Brien Bernard, impressed seaman, certificate respecting 218 
Opposition to the government, ruinous coris«^^-^Liences ot the 333 
Orders in council, denunciation of by .Tat»es Llo^d 256 — by James 

A. Bayard 25T— by H. G. Otis 260 
Orders in council 1793, ruinous consequen<jes af 82 
Orders in council Nov. 11. 1807, 122— Znov. 25, 1807, 125— -de- 
fended by Americans 127 
Orders in council required to be resisted 354 
Orders in council, inquiry into the effects of the, 357 — testimony 

against J58 

Osgood, Rev. Dr. David, his exhortation to support government 425 

Osgood, Rev. Dr. David extracts from the political se'-mons of, 329 

Outrages, succession of, perpetrated on this country by the British 353 

Pacific measures defeated by mercantile opposition* 103 

Parish, Rev. Dr. FJ.ijah, his exhortations tf> support government 425 
Parish, Rev. Elijah ext;acts from hi^ political seriBons 330, 331 

Parliamentary proceedings in England G4 

Party and faction, the bane of re mi b lies 29 

Party writers, deceptious conduct of 37 



462 1^^1)EX, No. L 

Party and faction, history of, a^desideratura 4t» 

I^arty men, thorough-going, rarely honest politicians 10 
Parties change names and principles 

Patriotic proceedings, statement of 149 

Peace party, ruinous eiiects of their exertions SSS 

Peace party, composed of warlike materials £43 

Pelham'si essays, extracts from £71 

Pennsylvania iine, sufferings and heroism of ^33 

Perceval, bpencer, assassination of S(34 

Periy, conset^uences of his victory 41 

Philadelpiiia, citizens of, as reiigiou* as those of Boston £75 

Phiiadeiuhia, ing,ratitude of ^59 
Pickering, Mr. 1 imcihy, vote of, against British depredations 109 

— against impressment 110 
Pickering, T. objects to 3ir, Xistcn's jroject of a convention re- 
specting deserters £CG 
Pickering, 1 . wondeiful contrast of the opinions of 1S8, 196, £C6 
Finckney Wm. character of S6 4 
Popular deiusion, influence of SO 
Popular deiusion, extraortiinary instance of S04 
JPopulaiion of the L'. r.tatrs, progress of the 4S1 
Power of congress over the militia, inquii y into tha £93 
Preparations, neglect of ' 59 
Prep a r a t i o n s f G r \v a r 2^9 
President Madison to Elba," a favorite idea with mar.y 13 
Pretensions of Great Britain exposed by EostOB merchants C8 
Pretensions of England, extravagant 184 
Printer atHeading scourged by a band of Philadelphia volunteers £4-1 
Proceeding of Congress, imbecility and folly of 63 
^Profits of commerce 50 per cent. SZS 
Prosperity of ibe I nited States, view of 4£T 
Prosperity of the I n 1 ted J^tates, progress cf the 4£7, 442 
Pulpit politics, seditious and treasonable instance of 509 
Pulpit politics, a Lid.ous abomination, 3£T — various instances 

i)f, 328, 3£9 . 330 

i^uincey, Josiah, seditious speech of ST3 

"Kefiections on the niercantiie memorials 101 

Heiigious factions, remarks on _ 29 

ReligiLi^' ianaticism, instances of _^ S£ 

Kepeal of crders in council, very equivocal - 5T 

[Republics, liislory of, not duly studied by the democrats 40 

Keialiation, a n^ere pretence on the part of England 105 

[Revenues of the United J*tates, increase of the 4S5 

Hider annexed to Monroe and Pinkney's treaty 48 

Hoad to Kuin, delusion and misrepresentaiion oi" 326 
Hule of 1T5.6, .utterly abandoned by th« British gov^riuii€ni,:84, a 

j mere pretext to cover predatory seizure? ^9 

Hus^^an tii^diation, misrepresentation respeciing 68 

Sepatorial representation, iniquitous arrangement of 415 

Separation of the states, project of a, in 1796 ' T 

Senaration of the states steadily advocated in Boston 5.0 

Separation of the states, various efforts to effect a 268 

Smugglins cp 'ied to great excess in Boston - SIS 

•Sober i ^ of the Americans no security against civil war 36 



mDEX, No. I. 46(^> 

Soatliera states, unfavourai^Ie aaticipatioas respecting, belied by e- 

veiits 446 

Southern states, shameful libel agai ist the 2T0 

vSoutiieiM *itates, not hostile to the easteraj £98 

Specie, accutn-iiation of in Boston 315 

Specie, oppressive drafts for, on middle and southern states Si5 

Thayer, Hiram, hard case of £1T 

Tonnage of the Uiiited states, view of , £92 

Thompson, Richard, impressed seaman, sufferings of 215 

Transit duties, F. J. Jackson's view of the payment of S6S 

Transit duties imposed by Great Britain on American trade 125 

United States, glorious pi'ospects of, 32 — remarks upon So 

United States, not suSciently grateful or munificent towards great 
merit 

United -^tates, view of the prosperity of 42T 

United States, unparalleled happiness of the 10 

Virginia representation, unequal, unjust, aud oppressive 420 

Wdr, constant cause of with England 4T 

War violently opposed by the minority , £41 £4!£ 

"War, inquiry into the justice of 249 

"W ir proceedings co'igre>;s, details of the 23T 
War with England inevitable but by a sacrifice of national char» 

acter £12 

War, repeated clamour for 24 L 

Washington, gen^^'al, his great naerits and service iS^ 
Waihington. capture of, remarks on, 69— ^causes of 70,T1^T£,T3,74 

Wealthy men lendi ig their aid lo overturn the government 8 

Wellington, lord, immensely rewarded 4^ 
Whithv, captain, hoaoarably acquitted for the murder of Capt« 

Pearce 21 S 
W>'cott. objects to Listo i's oroject respecting deserters SIT 
Yeas aad aays on various questions regarding war 



DOCUMENTAL INDEXe 



NO. 11. 



Adoiiralty, address to the British navy 
Alien law, extract from 
Alexander, eaiperor. declaratioa of the 
Baltimore Mercantile 3Iemjrial, ext. icts froin 

B '-ton Mercan ile Meraorial, extracts from S5 
British importations, law Hmiiing 

Baron, commod')re, letter from 11§ 
Britisn proclajuation, ordering the impressment of British subjects 

on b iard ^^merlcan v^essels l'^-^ 
Berlin i>ecree, November 21, 1306 1^«> 
Bayard, Jameg, Esq. extract from a speech of S^^f 
Boston ba.iks, a'ostract of the state of the S16 
B;'iti>::i )/«ra n- it bii!«. ad/ertiseuieat of the sale of 318 
Blockade, British definition of S67 
Catiet Dr. fteport of 
Com aiUee of Congress, report of 
Colo'iial trade, re;jort of King's advocate upon 

Ch? a jeake, ;jroceeJin^s resoectin^ th3 attack upon the 114, 115, 116 
Craig, ^ir Tames, his instructions to John Heniy 1-5S 
Credential!; f:'OJ« >ir Tames Craig; to John Henry 154 
Commercial intercourse with Great Britain and France, act to 

interdict 16S 
Cop^nha^ej, destruction of, Mr. Roseoe's account of the 369 
Coascri jtioii of Miiitia, Pennsylvania law respecting 409 
Canning, >Ir. George instruction of to Mr. Erskine lij5 
Cer-tiScate of Lieutenant B. v"an H^rFman -15 
Duties paid by the diSferent states, from 1T91 to 1812 294 
Domestic improvements, tables of 430 
Deposition of Csaac Ciark 213 
Deposition of [iictiard Thompsoa 215 
Dacres. captain, extract from the defence of ibid= 
Dociiir;ents on the subject of impressiitent, annexed to the report 
of the committee of the legislature of Massachusetts, £24 De- 
position of J. Eldridge, ibid, ; of WiHiam Parsons, 225, of 
Caleb Loring, ibid.; of Moses Townsend, ibid. ; of Joseph 
Mudge, ibid. ; of Andrew Haraden, ibid, of Josiah Orne, 224, 
of Nathaniel Hooper, ibid. ; of B, T. Reed. ibid. 
Extract of a letter fro2i Phiiadelphia, published in the Loudoii" 
derry Journal 



465 



DOCUMENTAL INDEX. 



Extract from the proceedings of the legislature of Massacbusetts ^JX) 
Extract from the report of the committee recommending a decla- 
ration of war . 251 
Exports of the United States, foreign and domestic, table of the 

276, iSS ; foreign, 279 ; domestic, 281, 433 

Embargo, Philadelphia resolutions against 142 

Enforcing law, extracts from 143 
Erskine, Hon. David Al. letters of to the secretary of state 173, 174 

Extract from the memorial of the mei chants of Halem 211 

Extract from New York menu rial 212 

Extract from the memorial of the merchants of Baltimore ibid. 

Extract fi om the memorial of the merchants of ISewhaven ibid. 

Foster, Augustus, Esq. extract of a letter from 264 

Governor Griswold, extract from an address of 257 

Oilman, Governor, extract from a speech of 426 

Guerriere, extracts from the logbook of the 215 

Governor of Massachusetts, his praise of Mr. Madison 180 

Hamilton, Alexander, letter from, to col. Pickering 79 

Hillhouse, Mr. extract from his speech 151 
Henry, John, letters from 154, 165, 156,&:c« 

Horizon, letter respecting the capture of the 122 

Impressment, resolution of the senate of the United States, against 109 

Ireland and Irishmen, strong federal tribute to 348 

Instructions of Mr. Madison to Mr. Monroe 1S3 
Instructions from Timothy Pickering, Esq. secretary of state, to 

Rufus King, Esq. ' If 8, 199 
Jackson, Francis James, Esq. extract of a letter from 263 
Knox, General, his plan for classifying the militia 411 
liing, Rufus, Esq. vote of thanks to him res'^iecting the classifica- 
tion law ' 412 
Ijetter from Secretary of state to admiral Warren 55 
Eloyd, James Esq. extract from a speech of 256 
Letter from Mr, Russel, to lord Castlereagh 56 
Loans, advertisements of Boston brokers, respecting 311 
Legislature of Ohio, their declaration re^-pecting the war 155 
Lloyd, James, Esq. extract of a letter from 265 
Liverpool, Lord, letter of respecting John Henry 166 
Ladd, Eliphalet deposition of -208 
Letter of John Q^uincy Adams, Esq. to Harrison G. Otis, Esq. 194 
Letter from Thomas Jefferson, secretary of state, to Thomas 

Pinkney ^#0,20^ 
Letter from Rufas Kins:, Esq. to Timothy Pickering, secretary of 

state ^::00,:202 
Letter from Silas Talbot, to Timothy Pickerings E§q. secretary of 

state . ; 200 
Letter from Timothy Pickerine;, Esq. secretary of state, to Silas 

Talbot _ I I ^ -X 

Lette from Jbliri'ltfarsh 11, E?q. secreta'ry of st^te, to Rufys 
King, Esq. ' ^ 
Letter from Timotby Pickering, Esq. secretary of state, to presK ^ - 

dent -Adams . ^ ' . ^ 

Letter from Benjamin Stoddard, Esq. secretary of the navy, to do* 
Letter frotii DliveT #Olcbt; T^iq. to ^o. 

Letter frota James Henry Egt^, secretary at war, to do. i^^^* 



BOCUMENTAL INDEX- 



467 



Letter from Con^modore i-od^ei-« 

licUei's iVnn ^.oiiiuiodore Poitec to th(^ author of the OKve 

letter Iroiu the brother of an impressed seiiuoan killed on board 

the Macedonian -'aS 

liCiter troio *U>hn Nichols ibid, 

lietter tri>ai John Davi!;, Abel ^17 

Ijeiier from c^omiii dore i^ecatur to the secretary of the navy £17 

liCtter from Captain v apel to ^. ommodore Decatur S18 

Lieiier from ..oinniodore Deratur to Laptain Capel 218 

liiiit )irs -Ir. project respecti ig deserters 206 

Monroe nnd Pickering, extract of letter from 84 

>lv.K:>r, c *. rpportof ^ 

jViiiau Decree, December IT. 180T 124 

Militia, exv.acts fr >m state constitutions respecting the 387 

Mii ua, extracts from the ftate laws respecting the 389 
Mitaia, exti-acts from the ietiers of General Washington on the 

suoject of 399 

Newhciven >IeiTantile ♦lemorial, exti'acts fi'om 97 

Kewburyport .^lercanti'e .'lemorial, extracts from ibid. 
ISoie of the British commissioners, appended to 3Ir. Monroe's 

tteaty 48 
?Jew ^ork .^.lerca itile Memorial, extracts from 89 
New-i^ork Evening Po-t, extract from 336 
>Je\v-York memorial, recomsnending an embargo 171 
Natiorial debt of the United tates, tables of the 437 
Ord^^r-j in Council, Nov. iT93 821 
Orders in council, Nov. 11, 1807 122 
Otis, Harrison (3 ray, Esq. extract of a letter from 260 
O'Biien, Barnard, certificate i-especting 218 
Orders in Council and Decrees, resolution respecting the 261 
Orders in council, evidence respecting the operation of the 358 
Philadelphia Mercantile Memorial, extracts from 91 
Po'itical sermons, extracts from 329, 330, 331 
Plumer, governor, extract from his speech, 1812 254 
Proclamation inviting to a violation of the embargo , 149 
Proclamation of the president restoring intercourse with Great- 
Britain ITS 
Population of the United )^tates, tables of the progress of the 432 
Pickexicg, Mr. Timothy, extracts from his letters respecting im- 
pressment J 98 
Proclamation interdicting our ports to British vessels of war 112 
Q,uiney, Josiak, Esq., extraet frora a speech of, on a dissolution of 

the^nioE S7S 
Kepeal of orders in council, extract from the 57 
Resolution of the senate U >tates against the rule of 1756 109 
Richard Carter, deposition of 209 
Resoiuiions of the Federal Republicans of New-York 212 
Randolph, John, resolutions of, in favour of Mr. Madison 180 
Resolution of the town of Gloucester respecting the embargo 149, of 
Bath, ibid. ; of the town of Boston, ibid. ; of the town of Tops- 
field, 150 ; of the town of Augusta 150 
Ry.aad d. W., his letters to John Henry 152, 163, i66 
Report of Timothy Pickering, Es^. secretary of state, to coflgress, 203 



Am DOCUMENTAL INDEX. 

c 

Heveniies of the United 'states, tables of tbc 584 
Eesoliith>ns of the revolutionary coLgress, respecting interconrse 

\\ itb the enemy 318 
Sa'cra -iV.?ercanti}8 Meniorial, extracts from 98 
Stanftury, general, report of 73 
Se'iitior. law, extract frnni - 45 

Sfiet^cli of Heiuy Erou^hara, Esq., extract from a 556 
vSeiuite cf New fjacfif {ihire, extract froiii a ipj iy of 4£7 
Senate of P<« as-sachuj^etts, their declaratioD ref-[ eciing the war 5.54 
Senate of Maryland, their declaration restectiiig the war £55 
Secretary of estate's lettei? to n. D. M. 1 r>kiriO 174 
Seflate and hruse of repi«&entatives of Massachusetts, their praise 

of Mr. ISiadisrn 181 
Statement of appl cLtions on the i-ulject of impresFiaent, to the Fri- 

tivh governn eiit i2^7, 56T 

TranJ^it duties, tariff rf. payable by American vessels 15'6 
Tonnage of tb*^ I nited : taies, from 1791 till 436 
Tonnag of the United rotates for 1209 ard 1810, tatle of 292 ' 

. Van ISesF, gen. report of, to a conimittef cf Cougress 7£ 
Winder, sren. refottof 75 
■\V&-hiri2:ton, car ture of, documents re^^^ rcting T2, 73. 74 

War proceedings in congress — yeas and uays 2^'^ 



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